Blackened

ByHal Hammons

I like blackened fish.  I order it from time to time.  And about 90 percent of the time it comes to me orange.  Not black.  That frustrates me.  “Blackening” refers to a coating of herbs and spices that turn black in a very hot cast-iron skillet.  It’s a Cajun preparation, credited largely to famous chef Paul Prudhomme. 

Since it’s Cajun, some people think they can dust their fish with a Cajun spice mix and call it “blackened.”  But it’s not blackened.  It’s not even black.  It’s orange.  If that’s what I wanted, I would have asked for my fish to be oranged.

I happen to like Cajun spice, so I don’t protest.  But the English minor in me is offended when words are misused so consistently that we begin to accept and even anticipate the incorrect usage of them.  (Don’t get me started on “literally.”)

Christian.  Obedience.  Confession.  Heaven.  Hell.  These are real words, with real definitions assigned by God in His word.  The world around us uses them casually because they don’t know any better.  But we do.  We study the Bible.  We accept God’s truth.  We have no excuse.  And yet we use the world’s definitions as easily as God’s, often without even realizing we are doing it..

Considering what Jesus said in John 12:48 — “the word I spoke is what will judge him in the last day” — I would think we would want to get our definitions straight.  At least regarding the words Jesus spoke.  Hellfire will have much more of an effect than any oven of men will. 

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Preserving the ancient boundary

ByHal Hammons

A landmark, the only one left of its kind, stands upright and proud near the town of Deadwood, Texas, on what is now the Texas-Louisiana border.  It is all that remains of what was once the boundary between the United States of America and the Republic of Texas.

        It stands, more than 150 years after it was erected, for three reasons: it is made of solid granite; it reaches six feet beneath ground level; and it has been deliberately preserved by people who value their heritage.

 Consider this.  Then ask yourselves, “How important is my heritage of faith?”

Lean into stress

ByHal Hammons

Run toward your fears.  That’s some billboard-variety advice I get while driving past the local university.  And as we all know, multicolored roadside signs are the most reliable source of life advice these days.

Lean into it.  That’s how the same basic sentiment was expressed in an article I read recently.  Except this wasn’t written by a nameless, faceless intern.  This was from an expert in the field of stress management who woke up one day struggling mightily to manage his own stress.

Little things

Little things

ByHal Hammons

Parents tend to judge their parenting based on “big things.” By “big things,” I mean major events and accomplishments — getting the child baptized, getting them through college, getting them married well, keeping them off drugs, etc. But it has been my experience that “little things,” daily spiritual maintenance and life guidance, tend very strongly to lead to the “big things.”

Where is your commitment?

ByHal Hammons

In The Corporate Coach by James B. Miller, a book on my shelf that is left over from a long-abandoned career in sales management, James Miller discusses the role of “the twitch in your elbow” while interviewing job applicants.  Gut instinct, we might say.  And a big part of that, he says, is the commitment the applicant shows toward other activities.  If he’s a scratch golfer, he didn’t get there just with 18 holes on Saturday.  Maybe he’ll cut out of work early some days.  If he’s out on his boat every weekend, who’s to say he won’t miss a few Monday mornings?

Commitment is a character trait not everyone has.  It is to be admired.