Dill and The Last Juror

From the garden: cucumbers and dill

From Winchester Farmer’s Market: Turnips, cabbage, and watermelon

July 3, 2005 Sunday Lunch: Fried Chicken, Mashed potatoes and gravy, corn on the cob, green beans, buttered turnips, coleslaw, cucumbers in vinegar with dill weed, biscuits, watermelon and peanut butter ice cream pie with chocolate sauce

For the last several weeks I’ve been listening to John Grisham’s book, The Last Juror and have fallen in love with one of the main characters, Miss Callie Ruffin. The novel is set in the 1970’s and Miss Callie is in her 60’s, an articulate, self educated black woman, mother of eight children of which seven are accomplished college professors. We see Miss Callie through the eyes of young Willie Trayner, the editor of the weekly paper for a small town in rural Mississippi.

Willie Trayner grew up in the home of a mother who did not cook. He never went hungry, but food for him consisted of cold cereal for breakfast, peanut butter sandwiches for lunch and frozen TV dinners for supper. More often than not, he ate alone. His first meal on Miss Callie’s front porch opened his world to a wonderful friendship and the glory of Southern cooking. I loved the descriptions of food just harvested from the garden and the emphasis on living off of the land, but more than anything else, I loved Miss Callie’s relationship with God.

At that first meal with Miss Callie, Willie Trayner could hardly restrain himself from the food set before him. Just as he was about to dive into the delightfully smelling dishes on the table, Miss Callie took both Willie’s hands and lowered her head to pray. As I listened to Grisham’s description of Miss Callie’s prayer, I was blessed. It was a lengthy prayer and full of thanks for all good things. Willie watched her pray and was amazed at her perfect contentment in talking to her God. In Willie’s words……”In the clutches of this very holy woman, I had never felt closer to God.”

I am not a great southern cook, or even a great cook for that matter, but it really doesn’t matter. We each have an opportunity to bring people close to God through something as simple as a shared meal around the table. It is in the moments when we give thanks for all the good things in our world and we recognize God's gift of the land and the food it produces to sustain all life that we draw all to God. And that is what really matters.

We truly are thankful and blessed. Even for turnips.