Cookouts Are The Ultimate Faith Stabilizers
Photo by Alex Belogub on Unsplash
Perhaps you are like me. You may recall vividly something that happened in 1977 but have no idea what you ate for dinner on last evening that may have upset your stomach. Hey, if you’re not there, as the elders say, “keep on living.” As I went into this holiday weekend, I had the Elements on heavy rotation, appreciating their genius and their lyrics. I reminisced about all the cookouts in my Aunt Millye’s backyard and the music that echoed throughout her neighborhood, as well as mine as we prepared for the holiday. Words like, “When I found myself never alone / Jesus came to make me strong / Step right up and be a man / 'Cause you need faith to understand / Keep your head to the sky;” “As the heavens are high / So the love of the Lord / We'll find a way / Illuminating our lives / And the writing is in the stone;” and perhaps one of my favorites, “This world can't shake me (this world can't shake me) Bad times can't make me sad. Woah, 'cause I've been there before, don't wanna go;” just to name a few. As I listened I felt joy and experienced a lightness in my step. Indeed I love music but as I more deeply reflected it was the bearers and witness of the lyrics deeply rooted in the demonstration of faith by my family.
There are so many things to feel discouraged about. The gamut runs from gas to deportation and so much hate in between. Finding joy must be intentional as it getting more difficult for it to simply show up, like your favorite song being played on the radio. But those lyrics spoke to us (and still speak to us) because they emerged from a place of faith. In these trying times, where is your faith? How might you cling to it like newly opened foil? You will need it for this next leg of the journey. And our families instinctively knew that. While the food and music and carrying on was appreciated, it was the gathering that shaped us and built us for what we were to encounter external to that fenced yard. The cookout did (and still) serves as a faith builder, created and curated to provide tangible evidence that we are not alone and that our Creator remains on the throne - and is concerned about everything that concerns us.
There are countless scriptures that revolve around food - but it wasn’t the eating that was the primary focus. It was the invitation to be in community with the One who first loved us. Even as we navigate trouble, testing, trials and tribulations, we are reminded in Matthew 15:27 as a result of the Syrophoenician woman’s faith that "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." We need whatever God has and we get that by being in His presence, being with others who love Him and who love us. Through our conversations, embraces, affirmations and memories, we get what we need to continue on the journey that is set before us and distance from the fruits of evil.
In between eating, playing games, listening to good music, half-truths by your family, we pause to recall the necessity of said, “cookout faith” and extend it to those who’ve lost family members defending our freedom to gather and freedom to be. May they experience the power of the One who compels us to connect during cookouts and otherwise. May God indeed bless the children.