One of my favorite things about our yard is the blueberry bushes. The year we moved in, I looked at the berries and decided that I needed to bake a pie. I was not very experienced in the kitchen and had never made a crust from scratch before, but I figured since I was using fresh, home-grown berries, that this pie needed to be done right.
I reached into my cupboard and grabbed my glass sugar canister and carefully measured out the right amount to make the sweetest, yummiest pie ever. I carefully cut decorative patterns into the top crust. This pie wasn’t just going to be yummy – it would be a work of art. And into the oven it went.
But as I enjoyed the rich smell of baking pie, I started to get a nagging thought. My salt canister and my sugar canister look alike, except that the sugar one is larger. Normally I place the sugar in front and the salt behind it.
What if?
I checked the cupboard. The canisters were reversed. My stomach did a somersault. Did I put salt in the pie instead of sugar?
I dashed back to the oven and peered in. No… It looked so perfect. It smelled so wonderful. Surely it must be fine. I couldn’t have made such a stupid mistake. But the doubt remained.
After the timer went off, I slid the pie out of the oven. It was so lovely, I almost took a photograph of it. I reached a spoon through one of the decorative vents to taste the filling.
Yeeeeecccchhhh!
Perfect on the outside — full of salt on the inside. I was heartbroken. So much work. So many beautiful berries. Fit only for the trash can.
It reminds me of when Jesus was blasting the Pharisees in Matthew 23. These were the highly religious folks of their day, but Jesus saw the truth of their hearts. They were puffed up with pride because they “appeared” so good.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. [Matt 23:27-28 NIV]
Most of us are guilty of this at times. People ask, “How are you?” and we answer, “Great,” with a big smile. But the smile often masks what’s on the inside. Not just sin, but it masks pain and hurt as well. We may have a lovely crust, but we are often full of salt on the inside.
I started over and made another pie. This one was a much more “humble” pie. No fancy leaf decorations, I just slapped the crusts together and cut some slits. But I was careful with the sugar this time.
It wasn’t beautiful. But it was delicious.
Thank you for the beautiful reminder: It is all about the “inside.”
Blessings and prayers, andrea
I was at an Elyse Fitzpatrick’s conference recently. I loved her suggestion of how we should answer when asked how we are, “I’m sinful and flawed but loved and welcomed.”
Isn’t that good?!”
(This is Katherine Hall by the way…)