Take it from an old and well-used molcajete.......

In authentic Mexican cooking, you've probably encountered the cooking gadget known as the molcajete.  You've probably even seen them in Mexican restaurants, for plastic replicas are often used to serve salsa when the waiters bring you the initial basket of chips.  Are you seeing it? the little three-legged pot that looks like it has been carved from basalt?

Well, for those of you who are still lost, let me give you some more help.  A molcajete is a stone tool, the traditional Mexican version of the mortar and pestle, used for grinding various food products.  Molcajetes are used to crush and grind spices, and prepare salsas and guacamole.  The rough surface of the basalt stone creates a superb grinding surface that maintains itself over time as tiny bubbles in the basalt are ground down, replenishing the textured surface.  As the porous basalt is impossible to fully clean and sanitize, molcajetes are known to "season" (much like cast-iron skillets), carrying over flavors from one preparation to another.  Salsas and guacamole prepared in molcajetes are known to have a distinctive texture, and some also carry a subtle difference in flavor from those prepared in blenders.  Molcajetes can also be used as a cooking tool, where it is heated to a high temperature using an open fire or hot coals, and then used to heat its food contents.  Although true molcajetes are made of basalt, imitations are sometimes made of a mixture of pressed concrete and volcanic rock particles.

Now, why am I telling you about the molcajete?  Well, you see, the molcajete is my inspiration for today.  When you are making REALLY AUTHENTIC guacamole, you have to grind avocadoes, cilantro, jalapenos, garlic, onion, sea salt, and black pepper.  I don't mean mixing lightly with a spoon either.  When you grind the ingredients in the molcajete, all those ingredients get bruised and twisted and minced - yet only with such grinding force does the essence of each ingredient fully present itself into the mixture.

And people respond to "grinding, bruising, twisting and mincing" in much the same way.  Let tragedy strike upon the shores of these great states of the USA or elsewhere in our global community - grinding, bruising, twisting and mincing "our" people, "our" brothers and sisters - and we become galvanized into ONE GREAT effort to help and comfort those in need.  It doesn't matter if it's a hurricane that has torn apart New Orleans, attacks on lives and property in New York City, earthquakes in Haiti or mudslides in Brazil - when one of us is crushed in the world family, we all are crushed.  And in that time, when the pain and "realness" of the tragedy is still clear on our minds, we become more like the people God intends for us to be all along.  It's as if the "grinding, bruising, twisting and mincing" more fully exposes the finer essences of humanity.

But people are different from molcajetes, too - for the molcajete "remembers" past grindings and carries over the "flavors" from one preparation to another.  Not so with far too many people - me included.  Once the tragedy has struck and left its ugly mark on the landscape of human existence, and once the interest and concern in the story has cooled and become "old news," we let our hearts close again to the needs of this world and carry on with our own agendas, oblivious to the pain and suffering around us.

Did you notice how the molcajete works well when exposed to hot coals and open flame?  Wow!  Talk about putting your cookware to the test.  Wouldn't it be nice if we were more like that?  Get our feet to the flames and we'd automatically find our "energetic inspiration" rather than panic and heartache.  But God says that in such a "hot" moment, He is merely refining our faith and full dependence - "thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine."

So take a cue from the molcajete - and let the "grindings" of life release the full essence of your pure love for and complete faith in Jesus Christ.

"Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.
I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow,
For I will be with thee, they troubles to bless,
And sanctify thee in thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply.
The flame shall not hurt thee, I only design
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.

Selah (סֶלָה )