A Life Changing Baloney Sandwich

You will probably find it strange that I mark the time I first read about baloney sandwiches as the  beginning of my true spiritual journey. Yes, I was raised in a Christian home with strong influences of my grandparents and my mother around me. I was baptized before I think I really knew what I was doing. I had been in church all my life and heard sermons from some of the greatest minds of The Church of the Nazarene. But somehow, through all of that exposure, my concept of God was that of a harsh judge angry at my behavior, and anxious to send me to eternal punishment. A God that demanded I give up most all that was fun, and adhere to a strict set of rules requiring a life near to stoicism.

But my life totally changed forever, and I entered into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ  through a process that began with a baloney sandwich.

It was a book gift that introduced me to baloney sandwiches.  Actually, I think it was only a loaner that I ended up keeping for years! The book was “Come Share The Being”, written by Bob Benson. Bob attended the church where I grew up, and his kids were part of our church youth groups. Bob was the owner of a successful publishing company and author/poet, but also was in high demand as a retreat speaker and pulpit fill-in. One year, he taught my Sunday school class, and he spoke at more than one retreat that I attended. I counted him as a friend long before I read his books.

I’m sure that your own concept of God is much more accurately developed than mine was back in the 1970’s. Still, since you may have never read from Bob’s book, I want to share Baloney Sandwiches with you. The book is one of my all time favorites and is based on this scripture.   You may come to share in the very being of God.   2 Peter 1:4 NEB

BALONEY SANDWICHES

Do you remember when they had old fashioned Sunday School picnic?
It was before air-conditioning.
They said, “We’ll meet a Sycamore Lodge in Shelby Park at 4:30 Saturday.
You bring your supper and we’ll furnish the tea.”

But you came home at the last minute
and when you got ready to pack your lunch,
all you could find in the refrigerator
was one dried up piece of baloney
and just enough mustard in the bottom of the jar
so that you got it all over your knuckles trying to get it out.

And there were two stale pieces of bread.
So you made your baloney sandwich
and wrapped it in some brown bag
and went to the picnic.
And when it came time to eat
you sat at the end of a table and spread out your sandwich.

But the folks next to you…the lady was a good cook
and she had worked all day
and she had fried chicken, and baked beans,
and potato salad, and homemade rolls, and sliced tomatoes,
and pickles, and olives, and celery,
and topped it off
with two big homemade chocolate pies.

And they spread it all out beside you
and there you were with your baloney sandwich.

But they said to you,
“Why don’t we put it all together?”
“No, I couldn’t do that, I just couldn’t even think about it.”
you murmured embarrassedly.

“Oh, come on, there’s plenty of chicken
and plenty of pie
and plenty of everything,
and we just love baloney sandwiches.
Let’s put it all together.”

And so you did
and there you sat-
eating like a king
when you came like a pauper.

And then Bob’s comments included: “I know you don’t have enough love and faith, or grace, or mercy or wisdom. But Christ has. He has all those things in abundance and says, ‘Let’s just put it all together. Everything I possess is available to you. Everything I am and can be to a person, I will be to you.  It’s not that He needs your sandwich. You need His chicken!‘ ”

Copyright 1974: COME SHARE THE BEING, Bob Benson, Nashville, TN

God used Baloney Sandwiches to make this realization sink into my being.  The junk in my life, which I thought was important and to which I was clinging, was like that old baloney sandwich. It was nothing compared to the riches that God offered through relationship with Jesus Christ. I began to understand what the Apostle Paul must have meant when he spoke of things he had rejected to follow Christ: “… and I consider it all garbage, so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him…”  Philippians 3:8,9  AMP  Why would we not be willing to give up the garbage in our lives to share in the very being of God?

What I would tell Bob Benson, if I could:  I, Diane, our children, and their families owe a big thank you for the insight God gave, through you, to a struggling young man back in the 1970’s. My life has never been the same. Generations have been impacted, and In 2020, I am still seeking more of what it means to “share in the very being of God.” And I still miss you, man.

My Prayer:  Father, would you grant me the strength to let go of whatever is my baloney sandwich today, so that I might share the power, grace, joy and peace that you offer me.

(In “Come Share the Being”,  Baloney Sandwiches was included in the prose of the final chapter and was not separately named. I visited Bob in the hospital months before his death in 1986.  I was able to share with him the impact his writing had on my life. I asked Bob what he would have titled this poem and he smiled and said ” just Baloney Sandwiches, I think.” So, I have included Bob’s spoken title here.)

Although not in print now, you might find a used copy of COME SHARE THE BEING on Amazon. Other books written by Bob include: LAUGHTER IN THE WALLS,  SOMETHING’S GOING ON HERE,  HE SPEAKS SOFTLY, IN QUEST OF THE SHARED LIFE, and a compilation, SEE YOU AT THE HOUSE; THE STORIES BOB BENSON USED TO TELL.  All full of truths beautifully and simply told.

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