Yolks and Folks! (Angel in the Kitchen)

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Not long ago, we compared past mistakes and failures to scrambled eggs, reminding you that what’s done can’t be undone — so you need to forget the past and focus on the future. To ensure you don’t get bored with what we’re serving up in Angel in the Kitchen, we’ve decided to move on to a totally new topic offering fresh insights. We’re done with scrambled eggs. Today, we discuss omelets! How’s that for being different? (Hey, our humor can be eggs-quisitely painful.)

What can the omelet teach us? Before we dish out that info, let’s first learn some cool facts about eggs. (Trust us, we’re not stalling. This will all tie in later.)

Eggs are a very versatile food: they can be boiled, poached, pickled, fried, scrambled, deviled, made into omelets, blended into shakes, or added to cakes, pies, puddings and soufflés. And if you’re Rocky Balboa, you can crack six of them into a tumbler and drink ’em down raw before you go out to jog the streets of Philly. (Yo, Adrian, I did it!)

There are many types of eggs used in recipes, the most popular being hen eggs. There are around eight varieties of hen eggs. Other types include quail eggs, ostrich eggs, emu eggs, duck eggs, and Guinea Fowl eggs. There are different colors, too. Hen eggs can be white, speckled, or range from buff to light golden brown to a dark reddish brown. There’s even a green-tinted egg, the Ameraucana. Eggs also come in different sizes. An average size Ostrich egg is about 13 centimeters or 6 inches and weighs roughly 3 pounds. One of these babies is equal to 12 extra large hen eggs, so you could feed breakfast to a family of four using a single egg. Of course, Ostrich eggs may be hazardous to your health; ostriches are good parents, and they can run over 40 mph! Oh, and they have really big feet to stomp you with!

The smallest bird egg comes from the bee hummingbird, and averages about a quarter-inch. Not much food in these, but come on, who wants to deprive the world of another cute little hummingbird?

For the purpose of making a point, we’ll stick to hen eggs in the preparation of our omelet today. Interestingly, despite the difference in the color of their shells, which do nothing more than indicate the type of hen they came from, all hen eggs are pretty much the same. Inside, their yolks are yellow and they have the same nutrional value. Lots of info, but what’s our point? A very simple one, which we hope to reinforce by sharing all these cool facts. Namely, people are like eggs. We come in all sizes and colors. We come from different ethnic groups and nationalities, just as cooking eggs come from many different types of fowl. Yet we are all equal.

And what’s really amazing about eggs AND people? If you have a mind to — we repeat — if you have a mind to, you can blend the many differing types and colors into a single delicious “omelet.” Once you do, you won’t be able to distinguish which eggs were used. Looks like an omelet. Tastes like an omelet. Hey, it is an omelet!

God desires all of humankind to blend together in the same way. We’re all the same inside, so why can’t we join together? We may have slightly different flavors (strengths, gifts, abilities, backgrounds and experiences), but those differing flavors can blend together beautifully in an omelet (family or church,  organization or community). Throw in some Holy Spirit seasoning, and we’ll have one incredibly palatable world.

“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28 NIV)

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Close Shave with the Critics! (Encouragement for Creators)

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In 1782, Giovanni Paisiello composed an Italian comic opera based on the 1775 French comedy The Barber of Seville. The work was extremely popular with both audiences and critics, who hailed it as a triumph. For over three decades Paisiello’s opera was considered the definitive version of The Barber. Then, in 1815, Gioachino Rossini composed a new and very different version of the same comedy. Rossini’s opera met with incredible resistance. Paisiello wasn’t at all pleased to hear of this new version, and neither were his legions of fans! Just who did this upstart Rossini think he was?

Rossini’s version premiered on February 20, 1816, at the Teatro Argentina in Rome. When the young composer arrived for the performance he was greeted by an angry mob. His associates hustled Rossini into the theater where, a short time later, an audience composed mostly of Paisiello’s passionate and vocal supporters jeered and hissed throughout the performance. Not only was Rossini’s Barber of Seville a total failure, but also, before it was over, several on-stage accidents had occurred.

Undaunted, the composer arrived a few days later for a second performance. On that fateful day, Rossini was again hurried through the mob. The audience was quieter, and the performance went far more smoothly, but afterwards, when Rossini left the theater through a back entrance, he was met by the same mob as before. Only this time, his entourage failed to keep away the crowd. Yes, the mob closed in and the next thing Rossini knew he’d been dragged off his feet. A moment later he found himself hoisted up … and carried atop the hysterical crowd, as the people paraded their new operatic hero upon their shoulders through the streets, praising the name ROSSINI !!

Today, few remember the name or work of Paisiello; but Rossini’s Barber of Seville has endured as one of the greatest masterpieces of comedy within music. Even more than two centuries later, its popularity on the modern opera stage attests to its greatness.

We all know the expression “That’s a hard act to follow”; but if you’re a performer, musician, or writer, and you’re following in the footsteps of someone who’s famous and successful; or if you’re simply trying something new and different, take heart. Many times the naysayers know nothing!

When director Tim Burton announced that the comedic actor Michael Keaton would be playing Batman in the 1989 movie, fans gasped. “Are you kidding! ‘Mr. Mom’ can’t be Batman! He’ll ruin the movie!” Well, Burton was doing something different, and his film was a box-office bonanza. So how did Keaton manage in a darker role? Just fine. And he even returned for a sequel. In fact, when Keaton moved on and Warners recast the part, the fans lamented.

Nearly two decades later, Warners decided to reboot the franchise, and it’s new director, Christopher Nolan, announced that Welsh actor Christian Bale would be playing Batman. “You can’t be serious!” the fans yelled. “The sicko from American Psycho is going to play our hero?” Hey, come on, that’s why they’re actors. Bale’s portrayal is now considered by most fans to be the definitive Batman, and after three movies it’s tough getting used to another actor in the role. But Ben Affleck, in yet another incarnation of the character, did a fine job. No, it doesn’t always pay to be a naysayer.

Someone once said, and it may even have been director Steven Spielberg, that Harrison Ford was too well known as the space pirate Han Solo from his Star Wars movies; and that he’d never be able to convince audiences that he’s the adventurous straight-arrow archeologist Indiana Jones. In fact, the part almost went to Tom Selleck, who bowed out at the last minute to continue starring in Magnum P.I. But after Raiders of the Lost Ark and its three sequels (a 5th movie is in the works) … well, Ford obviously proved any naysayers wrong.

Do you have any naysayers in your life? Persevere! And prove them wrong!

“God never changes His mind when He gives gifts or when He calls someone.” (Romans 11:29 GW)

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