Reaping What We Sow
As a teenager, I went to work in a pizza shop. I was a cook at DiCarlo's, the most popular pizza shop in the Wheeling area. Believe it or not, cooking a pizza just right is more tricky than you might think. Getting a large lump of dough to stretch out with proper edges, getting the feel for just the right amount of sauce, and using the ovens to cook just enough to form a golden brown crispy crust took practice. I had a lot to learn. Patsy, the owner, made me practice before he would allow me to cook for real customers. I wouldn't be paid my full hourly wage until he trusted that I was ready to cook for customers. Working alongside another, more experienced, cook I watched and learned. When business slowed I would practice on my own.
After a couple of weeks, Patsy asked me to come in a little early. He said he had an order for a special customer that needed to go out before the shop officially opened. He said he wanted me to come in and help him get it ready. When I got there, he told me the order was for two trays. In other words, that was two full pizzas, or 48 slices. This was a big order, sizable enough for a party. He said this was for a friend of his, which is why he asked me to come in early to do this favor.
I worked carefully, doing my best, with Patsy watching everything I did. When the two trays were done, I was very satisfied. These were good! I said to Patsy, "I hope your friend enjoys the pizza, cause this is the best I could do." He looked it over, smiled at me and said, "I hope so, too, 'cause its yours." He sent me home with two trays of pizza for my family to enjoy and the night off.
Patsy gave me a gift that has lasted long after my employment at DiCarlo's. We need to do our best to treat others like we want to be treated because we never know when our actions may come back to bless or curse us.
"Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap."
"Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."
Prayer:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love
where there is injury, pardon
where there is doubt, faith
where there is despair, hope
where there is darkness, light
where there is sadness, joy
Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted
to understand, than to be understood
to love, than to be loved
For it is by giving that we receive
it is by forgiving that we are forgiven
it is by dying that we are awaken to eternal life.
Amen
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