danielcash

   My dad loved to garden and among his very favorite things to grow were turnips. I don’t know if he really liked turnips as a food, but I know he liked to talk about them.  He consulted the Farmer’s Almanac on when to plant them.  He took great pride in growing them, and he was always trying to pawn them off on people.

As a child I did not care for turnips as a food.  I have a childhood memory of turnips being slipped in with the fried potatoes as a means of disguising and getting us Cash kids to eat them.  Yuck – what a way to ruin a good batch of fried potatoes! Continue reading →

When I was a kid I remember our family taking a trip to Mammoth Cave.  We went on one of the guided tours deep down below the earth’s surface, pausing in one of the big spacious rooms to gather around the guide.  I was pretty young and can remember being awestruck by the surroundings.  Everything was lit up revealing the features of the cave.  Then the guide told us he was going to turn off all the lights.  I grabbed my mother’s hand just as the lights went out, now being awestruck (and more than a little afraid) by the total darkness.  After a moment or two our tour guide lit a single lantern and held it up.  It was amazing the difference just one elevated light made in that dark space.

I often think of that experience when I read Jesus’ parable of the lamp in Luke 8:16-18 (and told a bit differently in Luke 11:33-36). Continue reading →