Jesus speaking: ‘The sower (Jesus himself) sows the Word (the words of the Bible in my mind and my mind is distracted). BUT the seeds fall where there are thorns:
the deceitfulness of riches
the worries of this world
And
the lust for other things
These choke the Word / seed growing in my mind, and it becomes unfruitful.‘
From a full parable Mark 4. My bit Mark4: 14,18,19.
This, not by planning, is my third encounter with green beans. I added stringless green beans to my memories section, then those well waited for batter – fried – green beans to my travel section. This will go in my memories section as: Those green beans in a soup.
We ordered ‘ sopa de legumes’, and there in the comfortingly thick, luxuriantly smooth vegetables were acute angle sliced green beans. Still holding their form about 2cm long and a little chewy. Perfect!
My added enjoyment was that I remembered slicing green beans for my Mom. She did it with a thin metal oblong razor blade that used to fit into Dad’s shaving stick. Dad replaced the blades often because his facial hair was thick, and he liked a smooth shave. Back to the blade, pliable between your thumb and first finger with just a little pressure and with the green bean in your left hand the slice was made at an angle and the heap of beans was soon a pile, ready for the boiling water. I also had some times when strings had to be removed first, or else the blade didn’t work so well. ‘Top and tail’ then check for no strings, and the blade worked well.
I always returned the blade to its small waxed paper wrapper. It didn’t rust that quickly and snag the bean if you did that.
I found the preparation soothing, and the hot green beans with a little salt and a knob of butter, squeaky when you bit into them. A perfect reward for the work.
Ah, a bowl of sopa de legumes in a traditional Portuguese restaurant where local people were having their lunch was a treat and now a memory.
Sopa, soup, perfect!
I want to travel a little with this word preparation.
Education is not preparation for life. Education is life itself.
John Dewey
And/ or/ but
Life is a long preparation for something that never happens.
William Buttler Yeats who also said:
‘I would spread the cloths under your feet: But I, being poor, have only my dreams ; I have spread my dreams under your feet; tread softly because you tread on my dreams.’
Then something said by a racing driver Bobby Unser:
‘ Success is where preparation and opportunity meet.’
Take care,
Sandy 🙂