White Acre Peas

 

Since arriving in Jasper, Alabama, on Saturday, I have been treated to speckled butter beans, the tastiest green beans, pinto beans, and a variety of delicious beans and peas.  Yet, the piece de resistance was lovingly laid on the potluck table in the Curry church of Christ building last evening undoubtedly by some angel of whom I am as yet unaware.  There was a dish of "white acre peas."  For the uninitiated, these scrumptious delicacies  are in the cow pea and butter pea family and are also known as Lady Cream.  They are very considerate plants, growing so quickly that you don't need to weed them and they grow plentifully--just not anywhere outside the very deep south. My wife and I used to eat those glorious peas at least once a week.  We never knew a day would come when we could not buy them on demand.  They were cheap, easy to cook, and tasty.  Now, many years removed from our days as newlyweds in Livingston, Alabama, we still occasionally mention the good old days eating white acre peas. I find it interesting that we were created with that ability to remember and long for something that comparatively small and simple.  Reminiscing is a trait unique to humans among all creation.  Longing for the past implies intelligence. How many feel a spiritual longing that has long since evaded them?  Perhaps it was a time when they were happy, faithfully serving God and productively serving Him.  Maybe it was a time before they fell into a lifestyle of sin.  It could have been back to a time of innocence.  The hollowness left by such a longing infinitely eclipses any other kind of yearning for the past.  David expresses it well in repenting of his horrific behavior with Bathsheba and disposal of Uriah, saying, "Restore unto me the joy of Your salvation" (Psalm 51:12a).  Israel felt it in Babylon, when asked to sing the songs of their homeland and past (Psalm 137:3-4).  So many, long since ravaged by the effects of their sins, may feel that the goodness of their past is gone forever.  Yet, I know many who have come home and through determined faithfulness have found the joy of their salvation returned to them.  Remember, we serve a God of hope (Rom. 15:13).  He sent Christ to suffer, die, and rise again so we could experience the realization of that hope!  Do not let that be in vain for your life!

Neal Pollard

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