It has recently come to my attention that a brave young man at BFA used the Budefest to initiate himself to…blood sausage. Now, you may not be familiar with this distasteful, blood-filled intestine, which the Germans like to roast and eat with bread. It really looks very much like what it is, and taking a bite out of the gelatinous, sanguinary, tubular specialty is not for the faint of heart.
I never found out if the BFA student in question actually had the courage to swallow any portion of the sausage, but his bravery in even thinking about it did prompt me to wonder just how far my own temerity might extend. I’m not much for culinary adventure. If it contains anything from the sea, I’m not the ideal candidate. If it’s considered weird in most civilized countries, I’d rather save my apetite for something else, and if it still looks like the animal it used to be, I won’t be able to swallow it. Recognizable eyes, legs, or wings tend to lodge in my throat and activate my gag-reflex! One wonders how a good little MK from France has lived 38 years without swallowing a snail. Truth? This good little MK saw too many snails crawling across the road leaving a slimy trail behind. Nu-uh. No slimy trails on my plate, thank you very much. And then there’s mushrooms. I like the taste of them but not the feel of them. “High maintenance” applies, I know. I am Harry’s Sally. (Only those of you alive in the 80s will get that reference!)
And yet….wait for it, wait for it….. Don’t the best things in life come from risk? True indeed. Relationships, exhilarating experiences, new discoveries. Yet if you’re anything like me, you run from risk like a person with good taste might run from, say, blood sausage! The risks that paralyze me are varied: risk of ridicule, risk of failure, risk of disappointment, risk of loss. But my greatest loss may be in not taking a risk when it is staring me in the face (with bulging, blood-shot eyes–daring me to set myself up for yet another failure). The bulging eyes might be a product of my imagination, but the fear is real. Sometimes, valor is ignoring the monsters in our minds.
Don’t get me wrong. I believe with all my heart that God gave us intelligence and insight so we could better predict consequences and spare ourselves unnecessary harm. He also gave us healthy curiosity and wise temerity which allow us to evaluate a situation’s promise and danger, see the potential for growth or joy or fulfillment it provides, and step boldly into it with hope and certainty. It’s a fine line, for sure, but a necessary one to cross if we’re going to fully live and learn and eventually GROW UP.
Bottom line? Don’t quote me on this–or anything else–ever!–but you might want to consider whether this might be a good time to weigh the possibilities before you, choose wisely, take a deep breath….and sink your teeth into the blood sausage of life.
And just so you know, there are a few “sausages” on my horizon as well….. I’m tying on my bib and inhaling deeply.
(Okay, so mushrooms can be pretty–these are on my jogging route…just don’t make me chew on them!)
For He did not create us to be frail,
Fallen in the wake of disillusion and despair
He created us for miracles
For visionary living and victorious submission
He created us with hope, with dreams and with passions
He created us for Him so that we may be complete
So let us love and yearn and find in Him the fullness that we seek
Mama_G_Hugs
Wow! I am impressed…only the supernaturally gifted writers can draw depth of meaning from blood sausage!!! I have had to stir those nasty things back in the German choir days…scandalous is all I have to say! That poem is FABULOUS! You wrote that too didn’t you? Michele keeping sucking the marrow out of life, or should I say bite the weanie? Oh, I wish I were an Oscar Meyer wiener…lalala…more long ago songs from the past. I love you, dear friend! smooches and hugs, Renee
mereeser
Can’t wait to see what exciting adventures God has for you!! I have a great article on risk…remind me to give it to you!
cheridueck
Thank you so much for this post! I think you must have the gift of blogging. :o) This was exactly what I needed to hear. Over-analyzing….it’s a disease. Maybe we should start OAA — Over-Analyzers Anonymous?
red_rodeo
Did that say “on my jogging route?” …Michele…do tell more! Maybe you can finally do the jogging for me! 😉
sparkeeparkee
That was soooo beautifully written, Michele. I should have put quotation marks around the soooo, because I could totally hear you saying it as I wrote it. Love you. Have you been to the dorm yet and met the new girls?
birdkins21
ok…so that was absolutely disgusting…but yet it was amazingly written, like grace said. but really…couldn’t you come up with a less disgusting and vomit provoking analogy?
oh..and btw…i haven’t eaten a snail yet either. granted i haven’t lived there 38 years yet…but even if i had…it still wouldn’t have happened! yur not alone….:-)
sugarbowltheory
mich, i GOT IT! finally… 😀
sunminchang923
michele…. why do you have to do that… I didn’t wanna hear that, darn it… but that mushroom is really expensive in korea… it’s supposed to be really energizing or something…