My Burgers: Round 1

                So it is not just about finding burgers of delight and disappointment in the world around me.  It is about finding my own balance of wonder and delight in these selections of beef sandwich.  This is about the ones I made for Memorial Day (observed) 2019.   One of the truisms I have a difficult time refuting is that ‘the taste is in the fat’.  80/20 chuck has been referred to in a couple places as the best beef for a good hamburger.

                80/20 is the meat to fat ratio.  This kind of meat is 1/5 fat.  Put down ten dimes for a dollar and remove two for the fat-if the burger was a dollar…  So here’s a question, what sounds better to you?

“This ground beef is 20% fat.”  OR

“This ground beef is 80% meat.”?

                An interesting work-around to this is the claim that the grilling process will burn or melt off the fat.  If you have ever enjoyed a good grill top fire, you know there is truth to that.  I even have the sweet spot on my grill where it seems to be just a little hotter and the flames really flare up.

                Irrespective, 80/20 was not going to do it for me this Memorial Day weekend.  I went with 90/10.  What cut of meat was it?  Whatever Wegmans was putting out.  Lesson in mindfulness for the next time, figuring out what cut of beef I am getting. 

                A cool trick to keep burgers from turning into oblong meatballs on the grill is to essentially turn them into donuts.  When you form the patty, thin out the middle before putting the meat on the grill.  I have read an “oh, that’s cool” explanation for why it works, which would be good fodder for a future post (when I find it again).

                So the ground beef is 10% fat.  The packs tend to run from 1.15 to 1.25 lbs, so four patties per pack and it is more impressive than a quarter pound pre-cook weight.  The main flavoring for these burgers was the Grill Mates Applewood Rub by McCormick’s.  And, being me, I did not rub it into the meat but added it to the beef before creating the patties.  That and garlic/salt from a grinder and some garlic powder formed the ‘spice pallet’. 

                If anyone has followed these ramblings this far, the comment, “Hey moron, that was a RUB you MIXED into the ground beef for the burgers” is a fair observation.  To which I reply that is it probably good that I am focusing on mindfulness in my food blog.

                At the conclusion of all of this, I think the burgers were pretty tasty.  The applewood provided a sweetness to them that was not unpleasant, but probably not my favorite.  I think I need to try this once more, if for no other reason than to rub on the rub. 

                These were in fact, cheeseburgers, with deli American, tomato, and a little romaine lettuce (not a big lettuce fan on burgers). 

                All in all, I will remember these burgers (in large part because I am being mindful about them in this blog post).  The applewood rub was good-probably even better if I used it right.  And at least I did not make these burgers like I was making mini-meatloaves (which is another post). 

Worship: When It Suddenly Makes Sense

                This is about worship.  “I Give My Heart to Thee Lord, Eagerly and Sincerely.”  Maybe the most useful thing John Calvin has ever taught me.  That will cause me some trouble with the purists.  I am the one who complained that “The Institutes of the Christian Religion”, Calvin’s masterwork of theology and the Christian life, really needs a fresh translation into more contemporary English.  Maybe someone needs to do for the Institutes what The Message did for the Bible.

                Well, that is a bunch of Church-y insider jargon that is bound to lose a lot of readers.  This phrase surrounds the Seal of John Calvin, which is him offering his burning heart up to God.  It is the eagerly and sincerely offered heart to the work and worship of Jesus. 

                What confused me about the image all these years I have seen it in the Stained Glass at church is that I mistook it for the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  Not that the Sacred Heart of Jesus is not important.  It most certainly is.  But it is not mine.  It is iconography, religious artwork, that I am going to explore.  What took me by surprise was that the burning heart that John Calvin offers to the Lord was unknown to my experience before now.

                Which is really strange, because I must have been exposed to it in some form.  It is also the Seal of Calvin College and Seminary, the central institutions of learning of the Christian Reformed Church, in which I was reared. 

                Worship is a reactive enterprise.  God did great by me.  In gratitude I will seek to do great by God, in my own broken and sinful way.  I pledge my heart, I pledge eagerness, I pledge sincerity.  Up to this moment, I was caught up in the forms of worship-prayers, singing, sermons, not in the heart-nature.  This is not to say that I do not worship the Lord.  It is to say that worship has been fulfilling more by the intervention of the Holy Spirit than by the deliberate movement of my heart and soul.

                The next question is how to work this out in my life and worship.  The joy is that this invests everything I do with the possibility of being worship.  The fear is how much of my life is uninvested in my Lord, much less invested eagerly or sincerely.

The Quarter Pounder with Bacon: Not the Bacon Smokehouse Burger

I went to McDonalds for my first burger review.  It’s one I have very much enjoyed, the “signature crafted recipe” Bacon Smokehouse burger.  According to the news release, in addition to the standard elements, what pushes it up is a ‘sweet and smoky bacon-onion sauce’.  (From online press release dated June 25, 2018).  But my local franchise was out of the sauce when I made my order.

                We eventually negotiated on the Quarter Pounder with Bacon as a ‘substitute’, which delayed the order as it is freshly cooked to order.  And I made the cardinal mistake of ‘settling’ for a burger.  It was a fast food burger, beef, cheese, bacon, the regular add-ons, and a reminder of the NEED of mindfulness when it comes to my food.  

               I think the most interesting thing about the ¼ Pounder was how it trounced the failed attempt by Dairy Queen to introduce 1/3 of a pound burger.  It failed because most people thought that it was SMALLER than its McD competitor.  Not a good sign when the most interesting thing about something is the useless trivia I can harvest from my memory about it.

                Was the Quarter Pounder with Bacon a bad burger?  No.  Worse than that.  It was an indifferent eating encounter.  That has been my experience with most of the fare from the fast food places.  Wendy’s and Burger King have their own versions.  My favorite burger name comes from Wendy’s…the Baconator…but more bacon is sometimes just more bacon.

                So why even include it?  As a baseline?  As a tribute to the Good, the Bad, and the Indifferent?  No, more like a reminder to myself at how much McDonald’s upped the Burger Game with the Bacon Smokehouse. 

Cheese steak: A local review

The Cheese steak…

Living between New York and Philadelphia, I am a fan of all the foods that are so bad for me.  I love Philly Cheese Steak and New York Pizza!  Another love is for the Burger, an American sandwich that defies geography.  No, it doesn’t defy geography, it embraces it!

The naysayers will look at the Great State of New Jersey, tucked in between two great centers of culinary excess, and scoff that we are the outskirts, the suburbs of good eating.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  The best of the best exist in the Garden State as surely as they do in these centers of good eatin’.

I am a Presbyterian, which means two things for absolute sure.  One is that I am Predestined.  The other is that I like my food.  And I will be obvious, when I see my profile in the mirror, I see that there is a definite over-love of food.  What’s the mood of the day in matters of self-improvement?  Mindfulness.  My apologies if I sound a little skeptical, but spiritual healing is one of the skills of my trade as a pastor.

In an effort to take mindfulness seriously, I turn it to something of great personal satisfaction.  Eating.  Specifically, in eating the things that I love to consume but do not always provide the healthiest return. 

So, the Cheese steak.  I have had amazing Cheese steak and I have had excellent Steak Sandwiches with cheese on them.  The menu’s label for most of the steak sandwiches has been ‘cheese steak’, which is something of an unfortunate misnomer.  These sandwiches are good in their own right, but… 

I was expecting to find such a misnamed ‘cheese steak’ at Jersey Mike’s.  I like their subs, I wanted something warm, something of beef, I did not see a burger on the menu, so I ordered a cheese steak.  I was prepared for a steak sandwich with cheese, good, but not of my Philly expectations.  I was delightfully surprised!  It was a cheese steak sandwich!

What makes a steak sandwich with cheese is that it is usually a different cut of steak than the cheese steak.  Often it is a sliced steak that, while very tasty, is a different varietal then what I expect on a cheese steak.  Jersey Mike’s aced that.  The roll was well matched, the onions well cooked.  The only thing that was a little odd to my palate was a little too much sweet from the green peppers.  Not sure if they were somewhat under-cooked or there were more in general proportion than I am used to (because I do like peppers on my cheese steak).

Jersey Mike’s makes a darned good cheese steak.  It comes in all their regular sizes.  I would recommend it for someone looking for a cheese steak and may be distant from their regular sources.  Thank you Jersey Mike’s and a shout out to the crew in the Metuchen store for a good sandwich!

From Our Stained Glass

The stained glass windows in First Church Perth Amboy are magnificent.  There is no other way that I can describe them.  Part of the power of preaching there each Sunday is that I get to see them.  It is in a way that the congregation does not, as they are tilted in the direction of the pulpit and the preacher.

This detail is especially powerful.  "I Give Thee My Heart Lord Eagerly and Sincerely."  This phrase answers a question that I have been struggling to answer for a number of weeks.  What does it mean to worship?  I have been stuck in trying to find an abstract, academic answer for what is an intimate, personal act. 

The image at the center, a burning heart being offered up, coupled with this motto, is the personal seal of John Calvin, whose theology, missions, and church structure are central to the structure and mission of the Presbyterian Church.  According to an article in Christianity Today, searchable by title "John Calvin: Did You Know?", this is "to signify his willingness to sacrifice all to the service of the Lord."

Wrapping around the image of the burning heart offered up is are the Greek letters Alpha and Omega, drawn from the book of Revelation where Jesus said, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End."

I had no idea what this was until I began to look into it.  It is so much more than simply John Calvin, founder of the Theological movement known as Calvinism.  It is the centerpiece of one man's devotion to his Lord.  May it be our inspiration as well.

The Lord's Prayer and the Padre Nuestro...addressing a problem

This past Sunday, we had a joyful celebration in worship.  We shared both Communion and Baptism, a message on generosity and giving in this politically charged season, and a big turn out.  The one piece that cast a shadow on the day was the sharing of the Lord’s Prayer.  Sharing the Lord’s Prayer and the Padre Nuestro, English and Spanish, has been integral to worship in my whole tenure at this church.

The shadow came in the expressions on some of the faces in the congregation as we began this most beloved prayer in Spanish.  I cannot read minds, only expressions, so I cannot say if the prayer was unwelcome, unwanted, or even offensive to the worshipping experience of some.  What I can measure is my own reaction, one of righteous indignation, anger, and a deserve to lash out.

This blog post comes from my process of reflection at my reaction.  What was that?  It is rare that I feel such a visceral desire to lash out, especially during the worship of our Living God, most especially when the service was one of great joy otherwise (despite being something of a ‘kitchen sink’ service).  It was a moment of selfish indulgence.

Why is there one splash of Spanish in our otherwise English service?  Is it a glaring example of tokenism?  No, it is something more fundamental to who we are and where we are.

We are in Perth Amboy, NJ, an immigrant city for 400+ years.  A boatload of Scottish Presbyterian immigrants came to these shores in the 1680’s and worshipped the Lord for delivering them to a new land.

The generations of immigrants now include growing numbers of Mexicans, Dominicans, and Peruvians-to name but a few.  The language of the community has shifted from a Gaelicized English through many others, to the varieties of Spanish spoken in these different lands.  One thing I have learned is that Spanish, like English, is not monolithic.  While not rising to the level of dialects, there are certainly regionalisms in the Spanish spoken in these various places.

Where are we?  In the midst of that diverse community.  What do we share?  This most joyous prayer that all hold in common.

Who we are is more fundamental.  We are a church of Jesus Christ, worshippers of God Almighty, indwelt by the Holy Spirit.  We have the wonder of being a Pentecost church, located in the midst of many languages.  And who we are is a welcoming neighborhood in God’s Kingdom.  And while we may not have the blessings of the number of languages represented in Jerusalem for that Pentecost celebration, we are indeed richly blessed here in Perth Amboy.

And we invite everyone to the Lord’s house, inviting them to pray the prayer that our Lord Jesus taught us to pray, first in Spanish-for the community and the guests around us, and then in English-for the hosts who would welcome them in.

My prayer is that if people know who we are, they will enjoy the moment of welcome, and join us in reaching out.

Rev. Peter Hofstra 

A ‘kitchen sink’ service is one where we seem to throw in everything but…the kitchen sink…

Putting the Bible On Trial: Case #1

                If we were to treat the Bible to judicial scrutiny, as evidence in a courtroom, Mark 16 might be a very troubling passage for us.  Mark is the shortest and generally accepted as the oldest of the Synoptic Gospels, both Matthew and Luke had it as a resource as they recorded their gospel accounts.  So, if the bible were to be ‘put on the stand’, Mark’s testimony, as the oldest, the ‘closest’ to Jesus, would carry particular weight. 

                The problem is that the Gospel seems to end at different spots, according to which of the oldest manuscripts are used.  The earliest end at a particular damning location, at the conclusion of verse 8.  It reads:

16When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. ²And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. ³They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”⁴When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. ⁵As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. ⁶But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. ⁷But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” ⁸So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. (italics added)

The problem is…no body, dead or alive.  The figure in white says Jesus is alive.  Jesus said he was going to rise, but the tomb is empty, and the women who came to embalm the body fled, saying nothing out of fear.  So, no body and no testimony ever given.

                This is the “Jesus Christ Superstar” ending.  If you watch the movie adaptation, it ends with the empty cross and the actors climbing onto a bus.  Jesus is crucified.  He said he would rise…but did he?  Did he arise?  Because there is an alternate ending.  The leadership who condemned him leaked the story that the disciples stole the body to create "false news" that Jesus was risen.  Those who wrote the play, as near as I can tell, are seeking to have the audience “decide for themselves”.

                Do you remember learning about the scientific method in school?  It begins with a hypothesis-a way to explain why something happens-that is then experimented upon to see if it holds up.  One of the tenets of the scientific method is that any hypothesis must have stated what will falsify it, what will prove it wrong.  It serves as a guide to the experimental data, to prove the hypothesis one way or the other. 

                And while believing in Jesus is a matter of faith, not of proof, the resurrection is the very measure by which our religion would be proven wrong.  Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 15: 13-14:

¹²Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; ¹⁴and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain.

It looks there were already challenges to the resurrection of Christ in the earliest church.  But Paul puts it bluntly.  If Christ is not raised, his proclamation is in vain and the faith of his readers is a lie.

                So when circumstances are created in which people are asked to ‘decide for themselves’ as to whether or not Jesus was raised from the dead, that is not a 'value neutral' inquiry.  They have a term for this in politics, the ‘push poll’.  The push poll is when someone calls up a voter under the pretense of asking a neutral question about the upcoming election, like “who will you vote for?”  But it is a pretense as the caller will couch the question in terms that favor one particular answer.  “Would you vote for candidate A, who has served his country in the military and in public service for the last 45 years or would you vote for candidate B, despite his never having served a day in uniform, and who has been alleged to have done….”

                Now, the verses that follow do speak of Jesus being alive, of coming to the women, and to the disciples.  But the “evidence” suggests these were added later, and they parallel the testimony given in the other gospels.  In a courtroom, this evidence could easily be discredited by a sharp lawyer, making fancy arguments about the primacy and the veracity of the most ancient witness.  And if the remainder of Mark is discredited, the implication is that the testimony of the other gospels is also suspect.

                This whole process begins with a reasonable premise, that we look at the bible with a discerning eye.  After all, it is the Holy Book of the Christian Faith, its authority derives from the divine.  But when someone or something is put on trial, it is NOT about discernment.  It is about reasonable doubt.  If a jury finds reasonable doubt, they should not convict.  If we read the bible and find reasonable doubt, we should not believe.  Apply that pattern of inquiry to the bible, wrap it up in the lie that this is simply looking at the bible with a ‘discerning eye’ and we are three quarters of the way to undercutting the most basic truth of our faith.

                How then should we look at this passage?  That is an EXCELLENT question, and one that we will take up in the next installment.