Tammy Lagoski

When I was in sixth grade I joined 4-H and my subjects of interest were sewing and cooking. After learning the basics, I had the chance to do something fun. Since Chocolate Meringue Pie was my favorite pie, so that’s what I choose to make.

I measured and poured ingredients into bowls, rolled out the dough and finally, put the filling in the crust and topped it with Meringue. Carefully I put the pie in the oven and anxiously waited for the pie to bake.

After an hour or so, I took the pie out set it on the table and admired my work. The pie was beautiful. The Meringue was tall, golden brown and well, gorgeous.

Excitedly, I called my mom in to take a look and take the first bite of pie. My mom was so surprised at how pretty it looked. Gingerly she cut into the pie and took a bite-her face contorted into weird apparitions, her mouth was open, but no words were coming out. Slowly, I reached for a fork and scooped up a piece of pie, and quickly put it into my mouth. I coughed and gagged; it was so salty that I could barely swallow the food. It didn’t take too long to figure out that I had put a ¼ cup of salt into the pie, instead of a ¼ teaspoon.

Sometimes in life – we may look at a person, or at a home and think how beautiful, I wish I looked that pretty, or I wish my home was that beautiful. Sadly, the truth is exposed, when we step into a house we thought was beautiful, or get to know someone who we perceived to be beautiful is in truth, a façade or an illusion.

Life is like that at times, not exactly what we pictured; thus, we need to remember what goes on behind the façade isn’t always what the world sees. Instead, one may be living in a world of hurt, abuse, sadness, and loneliness.

This is an age-old story, but one that needs to be retold so that when we feel ugly or life is throwing us stones instead of rain that we remember we are not alone. Someone else is out there experiencing the same heartache and loneliness that we may be feeling. Remember, just because it looks beautiful on the outside it may be a jumble on the inside. Seek to understand and to be non-judgmental of others because, they just may need to talk to, or seek out a friend in order to hear God loves them even when life appears to be a jumbled mess and hopeless.

As a Christian and a human being, judging others can and is easy regardless of our level of faith in God; consequently we present with human characteristics that aren’t always so beautiful. When you profess to love others, do you judge them, or turn away from them before stopping, and really looking at the person? If so, you may be missing out on a chance to be a beacon of God’s love and understanding. Perhaps, where you see beauty they see ugliness and darkness. Maybe just maybe, if we stop and examine what we see we will learn God has a bigger plan than we could imagine; thus, we need to be ready to taste the dessert, and be ready to act in love and go beyond the bitterness in order to find the sweetness.