OUT TO PASTOR: The difference between a fool and being full

I was relaxing in my easy chair just one day after Thanksgiving.

My ears were still ringing with all the chatter that went on around our Thanksgiving dinner table.

As I was sitting in my chair, I noticed I was feeling rather stuffed. The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage is an expert at stuffing turkeys. I am the turkey she stuffs the best. She never takes credit for it because all through the dinner, she asks me, "Don't you think you've had enough?"

She has yet to understand that, especially at a Thanksgiving table, I don’t “think.” I am not there to think but to stuff myself with all of the deliciousness on the table.

The week before Thanksgiving, I had a doctor’s appointment. I discussed an issue with my nurse, which was, “Is a pumpkin a vegetable?”

We had a very lively discussion. She brought in another nurse, which made the debate even more energetic. In the end, we all came to the same conclusion; a pumpkin is a vegetable. If anybody should know this, it would be a nurse.

So, on Thanksgiving, I had my prized vegetable, pumpkin pie, and stuffed myself with it. If this is what vegetables are like, I could eat vegetables all my life, along with carrot cake for dessert.

The only problem, the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage, does not agree with this. As far as she is concerned, pumpkin is not a vegetable and especially pumpkin pie.

I groaned a little bit and rubbed my stomach. Then she said, “Don’t you think it’s rather foolish to stuff yourself so much on Thanksgiving?”

Thinking about this, I began to wonder if being full and being a fool is similar?

So, not in such a thinking mode as I should be, I asked my wife. “What is the difference in being full and being a fool?”

From the kitchen area, I heard my wife say, “A fool never knows when to quit eating.”

I guess I’ve been a fool for most of my lifetime. My motto, especially around the Thanksgiving table, is, “Just one more piece.”

At the time, I did not realize that “one more piece” makes me cross the line into being a very foolish person.

Maybe that is just what life is all about. You don’t know that you’ve had enough until after you have eaten “one more piece.” My problem is, when do I stop?

Is it that foolish to become full at a Thanksgiving dinner? After all, what is Thanksgiving dinner for if I do not leave the table full?

I came by this legitimately. It goes back to my maternal grandmother.

We would all gather at grandma's place for Thanksgiving dinner, and boy could she stir up a Thanksgiving dinner. She had on the table everything you could ever imagine eating for Thanksgiving. Some things on the table I did not recognize, but, being at grandma's table at Thanksgiving time, I ate it.

After we were at the table for a while, people started to leave. Grandma always would say, “Please, just one more bite before you go. There’s plenty left.”

Of course, being at grandma’s Thanksgiving table, she made the rules, and we abided by them out of deep respect. None of us had to be overly convinced to stay for just one more bite. We all left being as full as we possibly could be under her instructions.

I do not think being full is the same as being a fool. In my calculations, not stuffing yourself at grandma’s Thanksgiving table would make you a fool. Who wants to be that kind of a fool? Remember, grandmas are never wrong!

A real fool would be someone leaving grandma’s Thanksgiving dinner without being full. Believe me, I am not that kind of fool.

Between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, it is my purpose to eat as much as I can to become as full as I can be. After all, on New Year’s Day, I am going to make a resolution not to eat so much at each meal. That is then, but now I indulge myself to such an extent that I am genuinely full.

As I thought of this, I remembered what Solomon said. “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed” (Proverbs 13:20).

A wise man will walk to the table of the Lord and stuff himself with God’s goodness until he is full and overflowing. That sure is not being foolish.

Dr. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, PO Box 831313, Ocala, FL 34483. He lives with the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 1-866-552-2543 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. His web site is www.jamessnyderministries.com.