My Favorite Things

Well. Donna T. was at a dinner party where one of the guests asked them to think of what were three of their favorite things and what they thought that meant about them.

When I got home from this conversation with Donna, I thought, OK - what about me? What are my three favorite things. Right away I thought about the angel and the pig, and then - because of the toasting of the marshmallows, I suppose - I thought of the little fork. I put in the picture of the three forks to try to give some idea of the size of these artefacts. There is the serving fork, the dinner fork, and then, the pickle fork. The pickle fork is small and it is the favorite thing.

For many years I collected angels. Crystal angels, stained glass angels, each angel more magnificent than the last. Then my friend Kathy gave me this little clay angel. I call it my "essence of angel." She/he is holding a humble loaf of bread. Immediately I could stop collecting angels. This was the reason I wanted to collect angels. This angel said it all.

For many years I collected pigs. Pigs on plates, clothes hook pigs, pewter pigs, and then my sister Fran gave me this small clay pig. This is my "essence of pig." I could stop collecting pigs because this was it. This was what I liked about pigs. A pig is the humblest of animals.

And now, the fork. I love this small pickle fork. No frills. Good design. It does what it's supposed to do.

NOW I'm supposed to explain what these three things explain about me. Wow. I think it shows what I like about people and things. I don't like ostentation. I value the inside meaning of people and things. I hate it when people pretend to be richer than they are or smarter than they are or pretend to be "big shots." What we are is enough.

So these three humble objects represent that to me. The inner core of what it is to be an angel, a pig, and a pickle fork. The genuine insides showing forth into the world. May we each be able to show forth our inner beauty as we walk the earth. No more, no less, but only the grace that God has given us. Rock on.