One of my favorite things about college was cramming for finals late at night before the big test. It wasn’t hitting the books that I loved, it was the pizza!
I feel bad now for the pizza delivery guy. Not only did we not tip very well, but sometimes, while he walked up four flights of stairs to deliver our pizza, one of us would run down a different set of stairs and rub grape jelly on his windshield. Why? We were young and stupid!
We would then watch as he struggled to see through the blurry glass. More than one driver made the fatal mistake of turning on their windshield wipers in an attempt to improve visibility. Epic fail! We were awful!
Proverbs 17:1 reminds me of those days, “Better a dry crust eaten in peace than a house filled with feasting— and conflict.”
We were troublemakers. We stirred up unnecessary conflict for a guy just trying to make ends meet.
During those college days, mornings often came early and breakfast was leftover dry pizza crust from the night before.
I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I often reflected on our prank the night before and felt a wave of guilt. We had feasted on late-night pizza as we stirred up conflict with an innocent, hardworking soul! The better choice would have been to eat our dry crust in peace and leave the pizza guy alone. We were terrible.
How many times have I repeated this scenario but under different circumstances? Too many times I have stirred the jar, smeared the jelly and caused unnecessary strife in the life of others. Oh that I would leave well enough alone. If only I had pursued peace and not insisted on making my point in an effort to win an argument.
Dry crust eaten in peace is in fact far better than gloating as I feast on my ability to articulate my perspective at the cost of unity, harmony and broken relationships.
I graduated from college. Yet, I am still working on my degree in making peace. I hope to graduate with honors soon. It will require humility, compassion and thinking of others more than I do myself. And certainly, I have to give up the idea of making fun of someone at their expense. It is a must.
I can do better. Scripture is clear, blessed are the peacemakers. It is time for me to drop the jelly jar and start enjoying dry crust eaten in peace.
