Friday, March 28 ~ The Emptying

~~Matthew 16:24
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 

~~There are times when I like to think of myself as this sweet, southern gal who enjoys the finer things in life.
One of those finer things is sweet tea.
Not the kind of sweet tea that has artificial sweetener in pink, blue or yellow, artificial lemon-flavored crystals, or comes in a can or bottle with a lid that breaks a who-knows-how-old seal when it is opened.
Not that kind of tea.
The kind of tea I am thinking of is the kind that my momma made during the summers when I was a child. Now, that was some tea.
Momma had this great big pickle jar with a screw on lid. She filled the jar with cistern water and dropped in several bags of plain old black tea. Then, she set this jar on the concrete cistern when the sun was just beginning to make the eastern sky brighten up. Throughout the day, the sun worked his magic inside that jar while my momma weeded the garden, and raised me and my brother not to kill each other, and hung the sheets and clothes on the line to dry. Before supper, we’d pick dark green sprigs of mint that she had transplanted to the mostly-shaded side of the house from the first branch that ran through the middle field. We’d shake the bugs off, baptize the sprigs in more cistern water, place them in a glass, and crush them to the side of the glass with ice cubes.
Momma or Daddy would bring in the warm-from-the-sun pickle jar and Momma would add sugar and stir the amber liquid with a long-handled wooden spoon. I can remember that there wasn’t a ‘best’ sip. From the first, long draw to the last drop, it was all the best.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Water is good. We can’t live without water. But there is just something about the finer points of my momma’s sweet tea that brings so much fullness to the rather empty taste of plain water. This tea takes deliberate time and deliberate effort.
Oh Dear Jesus, I want to be your follower. Please fill up my plain old watery life with a finer thing so I can follow you better, bringing with me a sweet and refreshing spirit to give the thirsty what they need to fill them up.
Kristy H.