Brew Day - Part IV

Sheesh, are there really four parts to this Brew Day blog? I had never intended it to get so detailed and lengthy, but then I guess that's the nature of a blog! Oh well, let's wrap this up, not because I'm in any hurry to finish it, but because I don't want to forget what my actual point was in starting it.

So, refresh your memory here, and follow the yellow brick road, or the amber colored beverage. I last left off having a reality check with the Creator of the Universe, which ended up steering me in a very different direction than the tracks I had originally set myself to go pummeling down.

I went and found Aaron. "Hey, babe," I said, "I think I'll just take a break today and brew with you. I can get my book covers done later this weekend."

Then I emailed the editor of the books I was working on, just to double-check when she needed the covers. She got back to me later that day and told me she didn't need them until the middle of the week! MIRACLE #1. Actually miracle #1 was me getting my priorities sorted out, so consider this MIRACLE #2.

I walked into the bathroom, gave a once over to its numerous imperfections, got a wad of toilet paper and burnished those water spots off of the sink faucet; closed the shower curtain to conceal baby bath mayhem, and chalked the rest up to the fact that our guests were beer brewers for goodness' sake, not Canadian royalty.

From there, the day was easy-going and fun. I tried the other brewers batches, so "easy-going" and "fun" were pretty much unavoidable. I got to know the brew folks and their spouses better, which opened up interesting conversations about theology. One couple there went to the Catholic church in town, the other couple went to a congregational church. "Oh, that's nice," I thought, "here are some brothers and sisters in our neighborhood that we can get to know and have a spiritual connection with!"


Well, sorta.


As our theology conversation progressed, we talked about biblical authority and the significance of Christ's work for our salvation. As it turns out, Mr. Congregational didn't believe the Bible was the Word of God, and felt that, instead of being written by a scattered bunch of what were basically dunderheads throughout the centuries, it really should've been written by a single person who was highly intelligent and looked up to by the general population. (Because, hey, intelligence and public esteem equals veracity, right...?) My mind was called to the verse I had read just a couple hours earlier that day. Actually, it was the passage surrounding the verse that had my mind buzzing:

"For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, "I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE, AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE." Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. 1 Corinthians 1:18-20, 28-29

Ok, God. I get it.

You're in charge, even when I'm writing my my to-do list in black, non-erasable ink.

And, really, only God would go to the trouble of driving a moral home using beer as the sanctifying vehicle. As Martin Luther aptly put it:

“Whenever the devil harasses you, seek the company of men or drink more, or joke and talk nonsense, or do some other merry thing. Sometimes we must drink more, sport, recreate ourselves, and even sin a little to spite the devil, so that we leave him no place for troubling our consciences with trifles. We are conquered if we try too conscientiously not to sin at all. So when the devil says to you: do not drink, answer him: I will drink, and right freely, just because you tell me not to.”