Sitting in my library, I sometimes get involved with one idea and then seem to shift or change course. I can spend hours tracking down something else, and something else again, moving further from where I began. Today, January 1st, is no exception.
There is a good Southern tradition to eat black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day for good luck. It is a custom that I have followed for many years now. In fact, I still also cook up some for my elderly step-father, a southerner from Arkansas, who is now well in his nineties. The tradition must really work. I have several books on beans and black-eyed peas.
The first is an old paperback from Nick ‘n Wilann Powers from 1974, “Tater ‘n Maters ‘n Blackeyed Peas. A Country Cookbook”. In the South, black-eyed peas are rather important.
My next book is all about beans. My wife’s second, or third, cousin wrote several cook books. This; “Bean Banquets, from Boston to Bombay” from 1989 is a great resource for bean recipes. Patricia R. Gregory also wrote a book about Italian cooking and included her great-grandmother’s (my wife’ great grandmother, too) lasagna recipe. Various family members were upset at that publication.
My next book is is my well-used Betty Crocker cookbook. I usually use her “Hoppin’ John” recipe for black-eyed peas every year.
As well as beans for good luck for the new year, I try to read a little each day. One good book to help with daily reading is “Character Calendar” by Sisters Mary Fidelis and Mary Charitas, published in 1931.
In this book, there is a description of a Saint for each day of the year. Each entry-only a few paragraphs long-briefly tells of the Saint; gives an Ideal of what to do or think about that day; and then ends with a Slogan. There is not a Saint listed for January 1st. Instead, it states “The Circumcision of Our Lord“. The story goes on: “This is the day on which the Infant Christ was formally given the name Jesus.”
What?!
So I then go to another section of my library, and pulled out the book “In the Name of Humanity” by Joseph Lewis, published in 1949.
This book is about circumcision. The author did not recommend circumcision for young men (including Jesus) and goes into a book’s worth of reasons. But, I am getting distracted. This was to be about moving forward in the new year. So I then picked up the famous book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephan R. Covey.
In the book, the author defines “Habits” as the intersection of knowledge, skill, and desire. The desire is a very important part, because while one may have an understanding of something, and have the skill to use and interact with that knowledge, the desire to actually move forward for that goal, can make or break any plan. One has to want to.
As important as the last book is for a foundation to become a better person, I have another book that was given to me by a wonderful mentor at work. I really appreciated her insight on personal growth. She gave me “Mindfulness, A Practical Guide” by Tessa Watt.
This book, according to author, “is not about becoming a better person. Mindfulness is a way of being that helps you feel more aware, present, focused, and accepting of yourself.” And yet, by reading, and practicing ideals in this book, I have found great insights and tools, to become happier, and then more productive. This is a book not just to read, but to work and practice with. I can better navigate through today’s world because of the training from this book.
But wait…I began, talking about eating black-eyed peas for New Year’s Day. The recipe that I am making today is a black-eyed pea salad. It includes several cans of black-eyed peas, Shoepeg (white) corn, red peppers, cucumber, celery, cooked bacon, and a balsamic vinaigrette. I will make this for lunch or dinner.
Thanks for reading.
P.S.
In “Character Calendar” for January 1st, the sisters further explained that:
“The Infant Savior was not strictly obliged to this painful fulfillment of the law, but He kept always in mind the resolve to show us how to live, and He wished us to know that we should do even more than we would ordinarily be obliged to do when the omission might give bad examples.”
Ideal For Today: “The whole of a new year is before you. You may make it just what you like. If you are satisfied with mediocrity, there is no use encouraging you to try better. But if you have any spirit at all, you will roll up your sleeves, grit your teeth and go at your work with the mind of a conqueror.”
Today’s Slogan: “Well begun is half done.”
Happy New Year. And as John Lennon said “let’s hope it’s a good one, without any fear“
Librarytomes 