Pie Redemption

I made a pumpkin pie. This is the favorite dessert in our family: Adam can eat a whole one (he doesn't, but he'd LIKE to), and I adore it. The children love it. Adam's two pies from a real pumpkin were a little of a disappointment ... SO, we were all looking forward to this yummy, normal, gorgeous pumpkin pie that I made on Saturday.

I've made scores of these pies. I even reread the ingredient list before I poured the mixture into the shell. Can you detect something coming here?

Yep. I forgot the sugar.

The pie looked fine, although not as oily as a pumpkin pie normally looks. It wasn't until I gazed at it when it was cool that a little warning voice alerted me: "Psst. You forgot the sugar!"

Argh!

Nobody touched the pie on Saturday, or on Sunday. It sat there. Now, we have 2 dogs, and I know that dogs LOVE/ADORE/GREEDILY INHALE pumpkin. So, last night I finally got out a big ole serving spoon, and dug deep gorges into the pie, and slopped them into the dogs' bowls.

They said, "Yummy! More, please?!!"

And I took the timid advice of some friends on facebook, and decided to glop a big spoonful into a bowl for MOI, and stir in a generous helping of sugar :)

Yes, it was ugly. You know, a slice of pie is a finicky dessert. It's elegant. I'm surprised that we don't raise a pinky finger as we eat it. One cuts gently, firmly, into the tip end, trying not to crush the custard. One attempts to cut symmetrical bites, observing the remaining shape of the pie to ensure that it is still beautiful. One tries to place a balanced amount of pie and shell in each bite.

But when you've already mashed it all together in a bowl, why bother? I enjoyed that pie more than I usually do! And I must say, it tasted delicious and perfectly normal. I highly recommend it!

I have redeemed my pie, bought it back, as it were. And I'll insert a little plug here for REDEMPTION as a concept. If you're a Christian, this term, this concept is familiar to you. You know its spiritual meaning. But in our culture, we only use the verb "to redeem" in one context (that I know of), and that's at a pawn shop. You owned a piece of jewelry; you lost that piece of jewelry to the pawn shop; you return later to pay AGAIN for the jewelry you once owned because you long to possess it again.

We should notice redemption when it occurs in life. That pie could easily have ended up in the dogs' bowls entirely (at best) or in the trash (at worst). Instead, I brought it back to its original state of goodness and usefulness. That is a pleasing thing. The pie shows a variation on God's redemption that is worth considering -- in redeeming our souls, God returns us to our original, intended state of usefulness and worth to Him, and to ourselves. Once again, He can look at us and say, "It is very good."