Beer: The Food of the Gods

"Do you know why Mrs. Bee stayed with Mr. Bee?  Because he loved his honey and nectar."  Unknown

I was raised in a Southern Baptist church by deeply devout Southern Baptist parents who were raised by deeply devout Southern Baptists.  I wasn't just a "Southern Baptist"; I was an "Alabama Baptist." Alabama Baptists know what's "right" and what's "wrong."  You'd have to be there to know how "wrong" is pronounced.  It sounds a lot like the word you're familiar with, but there's a roll of the tongue and a ring to it.  And that means that it has always been WRONG, it is WRONG now and it will always be WRONG!  Not only  is it WRONG for all of time, but it's WRONG for all people!!  Another name Southern Baptists give this moral designation is SIN !  To a devout Southern Baptist "sin" is not a good thing.  It's nearly as bad as WRONG!

In my church and my home it was "wrong" to consume any alcoholic beverage at any time for any reason.  I  even heard a Baptist pastor shout "I'd rather have a live rattlesnake on my table than a bottle of whiskey!"  So as a good Southern Baptist I never touched the stuff.  I wasn't even all that curious about it.   And what I smelled in a two day old empty beer can on the beach certainly wasn't too appetizing.

But Southern Baptists also believe the Bible or at least the way they understand the Bible. And they put one in my hands.  And I read it for myself.  I found there some surprising things about what's right and what's wrong. I also found some specific things about the consumption of alcohol.  I found in the teachings of Paul that what is "sin",  i.e. wrong, is different things to different people.  Even before I attended that liberal seminary in Louisville six years later, I introduced myself to "situation ethics."  In  1 Corinthians Chapter 8 and Romans Chapter 14, I read where Paul said that if something is right for you then let it be right for you.  But if you know it's wrong for someone else don't flaunt your freedom in front of him and "cause your brother to stumble."  But Paul made it clear that just because someone else thinks it's a sin doesn't make it a sin for you. He also said, "Don't let your good be evil spoken of." So the Bible is saying that something can be wrong for somebody else and right for me?  Yes that's exactly what it's saying. Well, that's the way I read it. So the preacher can stand in the pulpit and tell me it's wrong and it may or may not be wrong for me? It's in black and white in the New Testament of the Holy Bible. You can read it for yourself.

Besides several verses in the Old Testament that mention wine "cheering the heart" and such as that, there is the most often referenced story of Jesus' first miracle at the wedding in Cana.  There at the urging of his mother, Jesus, the Son of God,  transformed about 300 gallons of water into 300 gallons of wine.  The steward said it was some of the best wine he had ever tasted. And for those country preachers who said "Hit won't real alkihol," the Bible says that Jesus performed the miracle after the guests were already drunk. "That's just WRONG!"

At the ripe old age of 32 I tasted beer for myself. It was a Heineken. It was from a refrigerator and not from the beach.  It was surprisingly delightful. I've been enjoying beer ever since.  It took me about two years to garner the courage to drink a beer in front of my dad.  My brother saw the scene developing and gave me a look like "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND? !! "  It took Dad a minute to notice, but when he did he just started laughing.  In many ways my friendship with my father began in that moment. After that. I even started packing Miller Lite on our fishing trips to Florida along with the Coke.

Did you know that Roman Catholic monks were some of the first people to brew beer commercially?Going back to the 5th century, since most of them fasted during Lent, they brewed the beer at the monastery and drank the beer as their only source of food,. Then they also sold the beer in the market place to help fund their various charitable missions.  Monks still do this today.  There are only nine Trappist breweries in the world. The beer that I'm drinking now is Spencer Trappist Ale. This beer is to be consumed at room temperature.  That's important.  This ale is from the only Trappist brewery in the United States. The St. Joseph's monastery is located in Spencer, Massachusetts.

Technically the food of the gods was ambrosia and nectar. These foods were so powerful eating and drinking them could convey immortality on mere mortals.  It isn't too clear what their preferred drink nectar actually was.  But could it have been beer?  Those monks had to learn how to brew from somebody.  Why not the gods?   Oh and what my church taught me about that "nectar" thing with the bees?  It was WRONG !!