White water is bad news. It’s scary. It should be avoided except under extreme circumstances.

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. Matthew 5:13

Jesus spoke these words as part of His “Sermon on the Mount” lesson to the disciples. He used language that the hearer could understand. They knew what it meant to have salt that use useless. If Jesus were giving the same lesson to me today I think He would use language that I understand. I think He would give an example that I could identify without further explanation.

Therefore, Jesus would say “You are the milk of the earth. But if the milk loses its butterfat, how can it be made good again?

” WHAT?!!! Grumps have you lost your mind?”

“No, I have not lost my mind. This is a conversation between Jesus and me, and I don’t think there is anything more useless than milk that has lost its butterfat.”

I went to the 7-11 to pick up some milk last weekend while the kids were staying with us. Paula told me to get one percent because she thought that’s what the kids drank at home. I reluctantly entered the store and made my way to the milk section in the far back corner. I was bemoaning the fact that I was about to spend good money on a worthless product. I’m a milk lover not a one percent’r. I never dreamed that the situation could get worse. They didn’t have one percent milk. They had real milk, the kind we were intended to drink. The kind that is wonderful, and cold, and comforting, and refreshing. They had two percent milk, the kind that has been compromised and is beginning to lose its goodness.  Then they had Fat Free Skim Milk, white water. I was literally shaking as I reached into the cooler, past the real thing, past the semi acceptable, all the way to the useless.

I carried the container of white water to the counter keeping an eye out for anyone who might know me. I was always aware of where I could ditch the vile drink so they wouldn’t know I was buying it. If I couldn’t ditch it in time I would simply plead insanity. I made it to the counter and kept my head low avoiding eye contact with clerk. I felt shame. I felt naucious, (sp) I felt noseouse (sp) ok let’s try this, I felt like throwing up. The clerk had to pry the money from my hand as I cried uncontrollably. I was dirty, I needed a shower.

All too soon the weekend was over. The kids and grandkids had gone home, but there it sat in the back of my coolerator, a sixty-four ounce container with sixty-three ounces of white water remaining inside. I thought, what am I going to do? I really can’t just pour it out. I certainly can’t drink it, and the worse thing I could do is pour it over a nice bowl of corn flakes. Corn flakes are made for rich, smooth, ice cold whole milk, real milk. White water turns the flakes to mush in a matter of seconds. I came to a compromise I will live with for two or three more days and then it will all be over. Well the milk will be gone; the trauma however will haunt me for eons to come. For the past few days I used the white water to cool and thin my hot cereal every morning. One day oat meal, the next day my Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal from Bob’s Red Mill, and now it’s almost gone, but I’d be lying if I said it was just as good as real milk. It’s not.  Even as a thinner/cooler agent it is inadequate. I should have just poured it out days ago.

They say that skim milk is good for you, and they may be right after all it does taste as bad as castor oil. . In this instance however I choose to run the risk. I choose to enjoy my mornings with a nice cold one, a glass of pure white whole milk and a bowl of piping hot oat meal cooled down and thinned with a few ounces of the amazing liquid.

The way I see it, of all the things God made to nourish us His best creation was milk, whole milk, real milk. Ugh, I shudder to think of the depths to which men have gone. Fat free milk, white water? We have taken that which was perfect and made it almost useless.

Till next time.

Grump