"Holy Cow!"

Acts 10:1-16
Peter is given a vision that he should eat food which he would normally refuse because of Biblical injunctions.

My son decided to join me in being a pseudo-vegetarian seven years ago.
At one of my Cornell reunions he made friends with a fistulated cow.
He has always been a gentle soul, so it was not surprising that this caused him to decide he would not continue to eat four-legged animals.
This was his choice, his principle, not determined by an edict from me -- although I must admit it pleased me, and made cooking decisions easier. (If his sister, who did not share this conviction, had a carnivorous desire, she ate at a friend's or just made sure to order meat when we ate out.)

Well, a few weeks ago he sheepishly told me he had something to confess.
Of course the heart of a parent beats fast when a teen says he has something to confess!
So I was quite relieved to hear him just say that recently when dining at a friend's house, he had joined the family in eating hamburger... Not only once but on several occasions.
I can't say I'm not a bit disappointed, not because of the cows as much as because of the idea of giving up a principle that had been important to him.

Now I am realizing that in just a few weeks I will have No idea what he eats or when or with whom. It's just another aspect of leaving the nest, of course.


God, I thank you for the abundance of food you have blessed my family with.
I thank you that we are so blessed that we can choose what we want to eat -- a blessing the majority of people do not have.
I pray that our choices, in eating and in other every-day habits, will reflect our connection with your creation.
I pray that I can let go of my desire to control my children's choices.
And I pray you will remind me not to take myself or the importance of my decisions too seriously.
Amen.

6 July Wednesday proper 9