The BBQ Is Good and Jesus Is Lord

Saturday, my wife Andrea, my daughter Randie and I took leave of the Fortress of Ineptitude to attend a performance of the Messiah by Fredric Handel. The Messiah is Handel’s most famous composition which includes the epic Hallelujah Chorus. 

The performance was held at a lovely theater on the campus of High Point University. One of the singers is a young student we have befriended from our church so this was our good deed for the day (the week?) to show our support.

Besides, the admission was free.

And it wasn’t the whole Messiah. It was a cut down version lasting a bit more than an hour which is about all my butt and my knees can stand.

Before we took in Handel’s epic celebration of all things Jesus, we had dinner a nice little BBQ place a few miles away from the university. There is a rule of thumb about BBQ places in the south: the better dressed the pig is on the sign out front, the better the BBQ inside. The pig out front apparently shops at Jos. A. Banks and the BBQ inside was quite delicious.

The BBQ is good and also, Jesus is Lord.

Right there in bright red friendly letters at the bottom of the menu: “Jesus Is Lord”.

The waitress who took our order was wearing a black polo shirt with the restaurant’s logo and beneath it, the message “Jesus Is Lord”. 

Everyone who worked at the restaurant was wearing the same polo shirt with the same message, “Jesus Is Lord”. 

Welcome to life in the southern United States.

I can’t help but think if a local restaurant opened up with the help wearing shirts that proclaimed, “Allah Is Great”, people would lose their shit. “Oh no! Sharia law! Muslim extremism! Save us, Trump! Save us!” 

Of course, we just sit there and smile, surrounded by a litany of “Jesus Is Lord”. Why, yes, we will have dessert. Randie had peach cobbler while Andrea and I had banana pudding.

It was very good banana pudding, almost as good as what my dad used to make. He made a pretty damn fine banana pudding. 

We live in a country and in a time where Christians feel they are under attack, as if there is this constant assault to perpetrate some kind of Christian genocide right here in America.

We also live in a country and in a time where a BBQ restaurant with a well dressed pig out front, really good BBQ inside along with a pretty damn fine banana pudding can slap “Jesus Is Lord” on every available surface and stay in business. This particular business has been here a long time and is very popular; there was a fair amount of customers that night. 

Later we took our leave to go to a public university to attend a performance of a musical composition with the theme of “Jesus Is Lord”. 

Pretty fly for a white guy in a a country and in a time where Christians feel they are under attack.