Jesus – He’s All About the Gravy
by Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams
It seems the older I get the more I travel back in time to my childhood, youth, my life as a young wife and mother. I took such a trip just this past week.
Let me begin by claiming my rightful place as a Daddy’s girl. My poor Papa couldn’t go anywhere without me on his heels. I even waited outside the bathroom door, patiently sitting on the cold, tile floor, until he exited and made my world a whole lot brighter and warmer.
Papa’s Soft Voice
The house we lived in at the time is no longer standing. It was wiped from the face of the earth by a speeding driver plowing straight into it. Unsalvageable, it was bulldozed. But the memories remain in my heart. Memories of cousins chasing one another long after sundown. Riding the limbs of the old pecan trees as if they were our horses. Hiding beneath a tented bush in the front yard.
But one memory I will carry with me into Glory—my Papa’s soft voice as he sang to me and rocked me in Granny’s old, green rocking chair.
Papa had his hit list. That is, the hymns that he and I loved. “When They Ring Those Golden Bells” was one of our favorites. But one particular hymn stands out because of how my young mind perceived and heard the words. When I requested, Sing the song about the gravy, Papa. He knew exactly which one I meant and he’d begin very softly singing “Love, Mercy, and Grace”. This child didn’t understand grace at the time, but I was all about the gravy.
Gravy with That? Yes, Please!
We had gravy of some kind with every meal. For breakfast, it was red-eye gravy to go along with our hot, buttery biscuits, made so lovingly by my precious Granny Bass. For dinner (this is lunch for those of you who weren’t privileged to be reared in the south), we often had fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. For supper (dinner to you above the Mason-Dixon), we had any number of things, but always, always some type of gravy. Here is the definition of gravy according to Webster, something additional or unexpected that is pleasing or valuable. Now, he may not have been talking about the edible kind, but the definition fits, nonetheless.
Now, you may wonder why so much gravy. I thought about that this week. If my Mama happened to be the one in the kitchen cooking, you’d know that gravy covers a multitude of cooking sins. Mama wasn’t much of a cook. But she could make biscuits and gravy . . . and party food which I’ve spoken of in the past. But you put that gravy on an overdone porkchop or a bit-dried-out piece of roast beef, and voila, it was salvageable if not a whole lot tastier.
That brings me to my request . . . the song about the gravy . . .God’s grace. Vine’s Expository Dictionary defines grace thusly, that which bestows or occasions pleasure, delight, or causes favorable regard. In another use Vine’s says, . . . God’s redemptive mercy, and the pleasure or joy He designs for the recipient.
Grace Equals Gravy
To me, grace and gravy are the same thing. God’s grace is redemptive mercy or that which bestows or occasions pleasure. That’s exactly what that gravy on those biscuits, those dried-up, almost given-up-for-lost, porkchops, or beef roast did. Gravy applied to that food imparted forgiveness and redeemed that meal, once thought to be fit for nothing but the garbage pail. Isn’t that what God’s grace does for us? He takes us, sinners, applies grace, freely given, and redeems our lives that were fit for nothing but the garbage pail.
Makes me think that my Papa, without knowing it, was instilling in me ideas and promises I wouldn’t understand until years later. He’d be so proud to know I remember, and that the song about the gravy is still one of my favorites.
Could you use a little gravy in your life? Call upon Jesus and He will pour it freely. Share your thoughts with us.
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3 Comments
Hi, I’m Debra
Jesus Follower, wife, BoyMom, DD, author, blogger, musician, southern cook, amateur genealogist, amateur artist, living life with an accent on Southern.
The Conversation
Oh Debbie… tears remembering all the times we have been seated at your family table with Bob and Dot. Yes, Bob did most of the cooking, many times on the grill, but Dot added her touch with the sides, especially that delicious strawberry pretzel salad. Thanks for the memories!!
From debbie Presnell! 🙂
Debra, I will never see gravy in the same way again… thanks to you, I will envision God's grace– both something wonderfully added, unexpected, and pleasurable. Thank you, Deb, for this wonderful image!