A universal truth in getting men together is there needs to be food and that must include meat! Last Saturday I was invited to speak at a men’s meeting at our friend Bheki Matsenjwa’s church. I arrived at 10am and left at 3pm. When I got there two of the guys were busy cutting up a couple cow heads for the pot. I left out some of the best pictures because my sister Susan would have a cow (get it?).
It was a lot of fun watching these guys go through guy rituals – like how to best make the fire to put the pot on. And did we have enough of the right kind of wood? And how to build up some rocks or bricks to put the pot at the right height? And would the two cow heads fit into one pot? And of course when we needed some other supply, who had enough fuel in the car to drive to get it? Yep – we were a bunch of men cooking for men.
While the meat was cooking we sat in the church and I shared some things about life that I have learned. I told them of my story. I told them of my failures and my successes. I explained how decisions you make today can alter the path of your life forever, so you better make good decisions. I offered my own life as an example of how God can bless someone if they chose to follow Him. It is amazing how the God we serve can redeem difficult situations in our life to bring glory to Him.
There was a lot of conversation around these things. Young men and older alike had comments and questions. We shared an afternoon in the church talking about what it takes to be a man. We talked about what it means to move from being a boy to being a man. It was really great.
Then we did what men do – we ate meat. When I saw ears, snout, eyeballs and all tossed into the pot I wondered how it would taste. I have to say it was pretty good after all the preparatory drama. If I knew where to get a cow head here in the US I might try it myself!
