Harvey Millican's Blog: Musings of a Trad Dad

Is a friend indeed, as the old saying goes. To be honest, I never really understood the expression I think because the word order is strange to our modern English ears. We hear the first part, “a friend in need,” and our brain starts thinking of a friend with a particular need to be met. The reality is, however, that the original sense referred to a friend in your hour of need. Makes more sense that way, doesn’t it? A friend who appears in your hour of need is a true friend. It’s kind of like “you can’t have your cake and eat it too.” Clearly you can do both. But when you hear the expression worded, thus, “you cannot both have your cake and eat it. (at the same time),” it makes infinitely more sense sense, and is a perfect example of the principle of non-contradiction.

Tonight I had a need, and a true friend appeared to help me. Another friend of mine had gifted me a brand new smoker grill. It is the kind that uses pellets as a heat source. Unfortunately, as he moved the grill across the country on the back of his pick up truck, the metal lid to the pellet hopper blew off somewhere on I 40. “ it won’t be a problem,” he insisted. And normally it wouldn’t have been except for the 4 inches of rain that fell in my backyard over the past few days. When he gave me the grill, he was kind enough to leave the hopper filled with pellets. I was smart enough to buy the actual cover for the entire unit. Nonetheless, those covers are not waterproof, and it turns out that grilling pellets expand in water and clog the auger.

So, on my first use, I discovered that I could not use the grill and was about to give up until a dear friend showed up. Over the course of two hours, he and I but mostly he completely disassembled the grill and unclogged the auger.

The end result is what you see below.

That, my friends, is 15 pounds of Texas brisket. And if all goes well, she will be perfectly cooked by midday Monday.

Remember in your prayers today to give thanks not only for this friend of mine, but for all of the true friends, God places in your life.

I’ll let you know how the brisket turned out.

St. Lawrence, pray for us! Too soon?