Each week, the Travel Channel has some show highlighting the best BBQ restaurants in the country. The controversy between pork and beef will never die, but within Texas, beef is the champ. Within that category, all things BBQ are measured by the quality of brisket. It's a lower-grade cut of beef overall, but cook it for several hours over a low oak fire and I'd guess that even manna from heaven would have a hard time competing.
If you go to any grocery store in Austin, you'll find brisket in 10 lb. slabs, roughly 12" wide by 18" long by several inches thick. It's an impressive thing to behold, almost Fred Flinstonian in its appeal. Depending on the cut at the restaurant where it's served, one can get extra lean or extra moist, depending on how much fat you want in the meat. So, each time I go to the store, I like to swing by the meat section to look around. Specifically, I'll take a few seconds to check out the briskets. Truthfully, it's a spiritual exercise.
When I started this journey, I was over 220 lbs. One of the really fantastic and wonderful side-effects of being on Prozac can be unexpected weight gain. Having been around 180 lbs. for most of my adult life, I'd gotten medicine in order to just function at work. Before long, my pants didn't fit anymore. I felt even worse. I'd trained for several Ironman races over the years, and in the midst of all those miles I'd gained weight at a surprising rate. Yes, I was in my 30's, but I was as active as ever.
So standing in front of the big meat bin, I reached in and picked up a 10 lb. brisket. Then another. Then another. Then another. I know it's not an exact comparison, but it's hard to figure out where I put 40 lbs. of extra weight on my 6' 2" frame. Between the cold temperatures of the meat and the sheer weight, I got uncomfortable pretty quickly and put the meat back. Thank God those days are done, I thought, then moved on to buy my short list of staple items.
After everything I've seen and dealt with, I simply tell people that what you see now is merely an external representation of what's happened on the inside. In walking things out over the years I've had to lay down an awful lot. A banner of rejection that I'd picked up along the way, never intended for me, had to be put down. The curse of an unfulfilled life had to be rebuked. Fear that I couldn't trust people hung on a chain around my neck, as heavy as one of those briskets. It's taken a long time to work through it all, but God is faithful and kept driving me forward.
This morning I tipped the scales at 175 lbs. and ran an easy 7 miles with a friend from church. In the middle of the run he revealed many of the things he's had to face in life, but how he felt "lighter" after having gotten to the root of the issues. He knows a lot about my story, so I told him to go to the store and just hold a few briskets. It'll provide a pretty meaty perspective.
Carefully trimmed,
JRH