Richard J. Mouw: The theological significance of grits
My good friend David Jones, longtime ethics professor at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, sent me a small sack of grits for Christmas. These are the high quality kind -- white speckled grits from a mill in Georgia that was established in 1876.
The gift was an expression of friendship, but also a reminder of our shared interest in the theological significance of grits. David has been encouraging me to write a book about “grits and grace.”
Our grits dialogue got going when David heard me tell a story that I had heard in a homily by a Catholic priest from New Jersey. The priest had flown across the Mason-Dixon line for the first time, and on his first morning in a southern city he went to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. After perusing the menu, he called a waitress to his table. “Miss,” he said, “what’s a grit?” Her reply: “Honey, they don’t come by themselves!” The priest used that as a metaphor for the Christian life. As Christians, we don’t “come by ourselves” -- by grace we are incorporated into a community, the Body of Christ.
A year or so after hearing me tell the story, David sent me another grits tale, this one a part of the lore among folks who work in the Waffle House chain. A guy goes into a Waffle House and orders a waffle accompanied by scrambled eggs and bacon. When the waitress brought the order to his table, there were also grits on the plate. “Miss, I did not order grits,” the man said. “Honey,” she replied, “you don’t order grits, it just comes!”
The theological lessons in those stories are clear to a couple of Calvinist theologians. It’s all about grace. There is nothing wrong about explicitly asking for grits when you order your food at a Waffle House. But whether you ask or not, “it just comes.” God’s grace “just comes” to us -- not because we order it, but because we can count on grace as a sign of the faithfulness of the provider.
And the grace that we receive is not intended for an isolated “me and God” spirituality. We are called to a community that is meant to show forth the rule of God -- a peoplehood that serves as a sign of God’s larger purposes for the creation. “True grits”!
Richard Mouw is president of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.
grits
Thanks, Pastor Mouw!
thanks
What a great post - makes me want to make grits for breakfast tomorrow!
grits and grace
This could spark a whole new genre of theology jokes opening with some variant of "A Pelagian, a semi-Pelagian, and an Augustinian walk into a Waffle House ... " E.g., .The Pelagian says, 'If you're hankering for grits, you can buy them here." The semi-Pelagian says, "You must at least tell the waitress you desire them." The Augustinian says, "Look, I've been here before; I know this waitress. Believe me, grits just comes!"
Meanwhile, the Oscar for best supporting role for a menu item in a feature film goes to: Grits in "My Cousin Vinny" (1992).
Nora Mill?
Thanks for this, Rich. If those grits came from Nora Mill in Helen, I grew up just a few miles away. But thanks for this reminder that it's all grace--all the way down.
Craig Higgins
Trinity Presbyterian Church
Rye, NY
Nora Mill
Craig, I can confirm that the grits Rich received at Christmas were indeed the famous Nora Mill product labeled "Georgia Ice Cream." The Waffle House story I got from my colleague David Calhoun. As for the theological joke, I'm afraid that has to be charged to yours truly--my middle name is Clyde.
Grits and Haggis
As a Mississipian, I LOVED your comment about grits, Rich. When I am on Skye this summer, I will get you some haggis so you can have a similar post about Scotland's national dish {"Grits and Grace and Haggis and Heaven!"}. A year or two ago, my wife and I were driving through New Hampshire and stopped at a diner for lunch. There was a board in the entry on which had been listed the day's "Specials." We were late so all the "Specials" were gone and there was nothing listed. I grabbed a piece of chalk and wrote "Grits and Haggis." I did not stay around long enough to see if anyone placed an order.
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