Sometimes it Takes Sausage Parts to See with the Heart

I've lived in the South all my life, so it came as a surprise to hear him commence to speaking his words with, "Well, you know the old southern saying"... only to learn I had never heard it before. The gentleman who said it kept moving ahead with the conversation as though I already obviously knew and understood its' meaning. But, I didn't. At first. It was one of those moments when you are tracking with someone, then your mind turns inward and you miss the next few sentences...

"I got to see how the sausage was made."

Hmmm, what?

I have made it a pinky promise with myself never to learn completely how sausage is made. I know with complete certainty I would never eat it again if I did. Even as it is, I have a hard time swallowing those little hard 'fat' balls found in the middle of a piece. You can find me at a picnic digging them out like some lost treasure, only I don't want to actually find it.

No, I don't have a full picture of how sausage is made, but I know this - it's not a pretty sight.

I tuned back into the ongoing dialogue to hear my friend continuing his discussion of an acquaintance of his who worked hard at a thankless job.

Ah... I began 'grinding out' the true meaning. Making sausage is not a pretty job, nor are many other professions out there.

Okay. That makes sense. I will add it to my repertoire alongside 'Bless your heart.'

I know our purposes for what we do daily in this life are for an audience of only One. But, since we are the hands and feet of the One who brought us here at this time and place, how important is it to cheer others on their journey by recognizing their efforts in their thankless job?

Probably more important than anything else you and I are 'fixing to' do today.

Who in our lives has a 'sausage making' job? A thankless job they do daily without asking for attention? We may or may not really even know their name, but we will see them - today... if we pull ourselves out of the 'casing' of our own lives long enough to let our hearts notice them.

Then, like my friend who taught me a new way of seeing life from the machine of a sausage grinder, appreciate them - and, let them know.

It will do us both a world of good.

And, who knows, maybe this analogy will help me learn to like sausage more...

but, probably not.