Galley Goodness

Martin Luther King was born January 15, 1929. America's enterprising spirit, however, has chosen to celebrate his birthday today - on a Monday - so we can chisel a three-day weekend from the event.

At least some of us can. If today is just another work day for you, I hope the time passes quickly.

Meanwhile, chocolate - which most of us more or less take for granted - is apparently not that well known or popular in China.

So Chocolatier Wang Qilu decided to try and change that. He fashioned brick after brick of white, dark, and milk chocolate, and then painstakingly recreated the Great Wall of China (in miniature, of course) along with - get this - 560 miniature replicas of terra cotta warriors, all made out of chocolate.

That's a lot o'chocolate.

+++

The Chaplain was newly assigned to this particular Navy vessel and on his first day he noticed how much grief the Mess Specialists (cafeteria cooks) had to put up with from the enlisted men, and how they gave back as good as they got.

So the Chaplain went to the Food Service Officer and received permission to talk with the Mess Specialists. He spoke about how to treat your fellow man, how to turn the other cheek, explained about the Golden Rule and said that if they served the food with a cheerful attitude and a willing smile, in a very short time the galley would be a much happier environment in which the crew could take their meals.

After this "pep talk," the Chaplain and the Food Service Officer stood by to watch how the next meal went.

A new recruit was slowly walking down the line with his tray, and couldn't seem to find anything he liked, until he got to the dessert section. There he picked up a saucer containing a large slice of chocolate cake.

The Mess Specialist serving in that area noticed the sailor's tray and said, "Is that all you're going to eat?"

The sailor replied, "Yeah, the rest of it don't look so good."

The Mess Specialist smiled and said, "I understand. Would you like *two* pieces of chocolate cake?"

"Yeah, that'd be great!" exclaimed the new recruit.

Standing nearby, the Chaplain poked the Food Service Officer in the ribs and whispered, "Looks like my talk did some good."

At this point the Mess Specialist leaned over the counter and deftly cut the sailor's cake in half.

[Pastor Tim's Cybersalt Digest; edited by Mark Raymond]

+++

WORD for YOUR WEEK: Ever heard anyone use the word "obtuse"? Besides geometry students and teachers, that is? You'll most likely hear it as a question: are you being intentionally obtuse? It's from the Latin words ob (against) and tundere (to beat); obtundere was to beat against something, making it blunt, taking away an object's point, or sharpness. Today we generally use it to mean someone who is not sharp, or quick, or intelligent; or someone who is acting as if they were stupid.

+++

Mark's Musings comes on an RSS Feed, a Facebook Note, an Amazon Kindle, and via e-mail each weekday. Get your own subscription with a quick click here. No cutting anything in half.