Hail to the Trident!

My kitchen is cornucopia of cooking  and serving-ware due to the generosity of my mother-in-law (and her eternal hope that giving me the right tools will make me into a cook yet.) As a result of so many gifted utensil sets, my silverware drawer is a tangle of mismatched forks, knives and spoons. There is definite attrition, but where the missing pieces go, we haven't a clue. Whether they make their way to the landfill via a discarded takeout container or go off to party with the equally mysterious missing socks remains a great unknown.

My husband and I are all about utility. Is there a fork? Check. Does it match? Who cares? (Sorry, Mom-In-Law! I know you love setting the table with your beautiful Wedgewood, but it's all the same to us. Honestly, a camping spork is fine!)

But there is an exception to the rule. And we were oblivious about it until my son's  College Girlfriend started eating with us on the reg. One of our flatware sets is designed as if the Founding Fathers were sitting down for a tasty meat pie. The knives sport chunky handles that look a bit like a colonial revolver. And the fork, well, it only has three tines.

The College Girlfriend despised those forks, calling them "Tridents." Her distaste drove her to  get up from the table and replace it with another if it was inadvertently included in her table setting. Of course, it became a game them to sneak a Trident into her hand without her knowing, but in general, the sad Tridents became pushed to the back of the drawer.

Years have passed and the drawer is no less tangled. It is too narrow for an organizer and frankly there are too many pieces to wedge into an organizer. So for some time the Tridents remained the scourge of cutlery set. But then an odd thing happened.

I started cooking eggs for Mom and myself every morning. Scrambled eggs. At first, I'd give them a quick spin with a spatula, but I often sloshed them over the side of the pan in a gloppy mess. Soon I realized the best way to prep was to scramble them in a mug before they hit the pan. And the best implement to do the job? Not any old fork, that's for sure. Their width would easily hit the side of the mug, making a good scramble an impossibility. Only a Trident would do!

Now I search the drawer every morning for a Trident! Esteemed above it's brethren, the humble Trident gleams in the early morning light and  performs its daily task handily. What was once scorned, is now prized.

The take away for this message? Writings from  Ecclesiastes 3 attributed to  King Solomon include this familiar passage:

For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:  a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;  a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;  a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;  a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;  a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;  a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;  a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

Put simply, now is that  Trident's time. After waiting and wondering, it is now prized among it's peers.  It has found it's way to serve.

You may have spent the last year or years, also waiting or wondering about the purpose of your life. But now, as we turn our calendars to 2020 we have an opportunity to redefine who we are and how we serve. What are your gifts?   Where is your passion?  How can you serve? What can you do to make your family, neighborhood, community, town, church, government, country, or world better than you found it?

Our Heavenly Father has prepared us for such a time as this.

Father, may our hearts and minds open to your purpose, in ways small and large. Amen and Amen. 

Let now be your time.