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What happens when God helps buy a cow? · Family Tree Food Stories

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What does a priest, a cow, and the CEO of an airline have to do with food stories?
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Hang tight, because this one's gonna have you rolling in the aisles.
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Punt intended.
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Stay tuned.
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There's a lot more in store.
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Hey there, food lovers and history buffs.
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I'm Nancy May.
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And I'm Sylvia.
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Lovely.
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Welcome to Family Tree Food and Stories.
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Pull up your chair to the table and get ready to dig in as we take you on a wild
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ride through generations of flavors.
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That's right.
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We are dishing up the juiciest family history secrets.
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Some epic dinner disasters and intriguing taste behind your favorite dishes.
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From grandma's legendary cheese crust, apple pie to Uncle
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Bob's questionable casserole.
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There's a lot more going on at that table than you might realize, so join
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us as we eat, laugh, relive the past, and create new mealtime memories
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together because every meal has a.
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Story and every story is a feast.
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Let's dig into the show.
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Hello everybody.
1:23
Welcome to another episode of Family Tree Food and Stories.
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This is a rather unusual show.
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I would say, well, maybe not unusual, but it's a different show and one that
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Sylvia and I have put a lot of thought into, not just ourselves, but with
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our guest who is Father Jim Cisco, and we are talking about food in a very
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different way, not just with our family, but from the heart and the soul and
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the spiritual connection that we have.
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And that's something that I think sometimes we forget about, but food
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really does play so much a part of our lives from the moment that we take
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our first breath to the moment that we take our last breath, and there's a lot
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of space in between, or should I say, there's a lot of chewing in between.
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Sylvia, why don't you go ahead and, yeah, introduce Father Jim to us.
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Yes, let's, uh, do that.
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Um, I've known Father Jim for years and I've so enjoyed knowing him.
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I'm thrilled to have this opportunity.
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I need about three days to tell everything, but we're gonna let
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him tell most of the stories.
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Okay?
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But Father Jim was trained as an opera singer at the New England
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Conservatory of Music, okay?
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And that's not all.
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He switched gears and fulfilled a lifelong dream, and was ordained
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as a priest in Lexington in 1998.
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But this is really cool.
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He was asked by Pope Francis in 2016 to be one of 100 missionaries of mercy
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in the US as a traveling evangelist.
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Now he has a banner of preaching, evangelizing, and performing
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random acts of kindness.
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I can't wait to hear, and I'll add also, he's a storyteller.
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And a singer, uh, he's a package, uh, falling back on his opera training.
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Uh, he usually treats his audience to a song and so I'm real excited about that.
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And we'll wanna hear about his random acts of kindness, you know, things
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like, uh, what about those steers in Texas, or donations for food victims?
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Uh, IGA in a small town, I think I read something about that.
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It's hard to keep up with you.
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Uh, but also we do wanna get into something else
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that's very, very important.
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He's a foodie.
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Just like us and Miss Marie's spaghetti sauce, his mother's spaghetti sauce,
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and he has produced it and the proceeds are going to charity and I love
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that Delta Airlines has adopted it.
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You said that you live on Delta Airlines.
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I love that.
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And this is only the tip of the iceberg.
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So we wanna cover all of those things.
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And without further ado, I might even wanna hear the Pringle story.
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They were your parishioners when you were a little kid.
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I know everything about you.
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Uh, so welcome Father Jim.
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We're delighted to have you and
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it's great to be here.
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Yeah.
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When do you sleep?
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On Delta?
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On Delta.
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That is it?
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Yes.
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So, father Jim, you said that Delta flies on Marie's, they
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serve it right in their Serve Us.
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Yeah.
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So, so they, they picked it up in using it at their different Sky clubs
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across the, the United States and, uh.
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They represented and regarded the whole aspect of the charitable giving about
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how from the food, from my mom's sauce, how in turn, uh, we are feeding others
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through the charities of, uh, hospice in southeast Texas, which was one of the
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first hospices nonprofit hospices in.
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The United States.
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It was one of the ten first hospices in the United States, and it was
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also the first hospice in Texas.
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And the beautiful thing about Southeast Texas Hospice is that it is, not only
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is it nonprofit, but it goes back to the whole concept of really what
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I believe hospice was geared for.
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And that is tending to the individuals.
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Needs and also their family and caregivers from, you know, really
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that transition from, uh, what we would say one life to a next.
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And, uh, the second proceeds charity goes to feeding the poor in Appalachia
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so that the money that is raised goes into ways to assist those in Appalachia.
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Through the ministry of the Diocese of Lexington.
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Um, and so, you know, it, it's great.
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It's as if my mom and my family, uh, really live on, and, uh, the,
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the sauce is all natural, no sugar.
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Uh, it is produced solely, uh, it is Kentucky, proud and produced in
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Kentucky and, and sold all throughout.
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The United States and, uh, it, it's a great honor for me.
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It was something that I dreamed up a year after my mother had died.
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I wanted to, I. Celebrate her life in some way, and I wanted to know how to put
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the sauce together and um, really had a great team that, that helped me with that.
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I remember when I first decided to do this, I was told it will never happen.
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It'll take years.
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Uh, nope.
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I had it done within, within six months.
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Well, I think you had a little, had a, a little higher power help,
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so, well, you know, you do have,
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I, I think perseverance pays off and, and I think that's that's true with cooking.
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I think that's true with food.
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It doesn't always come out as you expect it to at first, and sometimes
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it takes a little creativity.
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It's, uh, you know, feeding and cooking, um, is, is not for the
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weak or the weary, you know?
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I know.
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Even,
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even the things that aren't so beautiful can be delicious.
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That right.
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That's, and they feed somebody's heart salt.
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That's exactly
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true.
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That's right.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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Uh, and so Ms. Marie came about as a tribute to your mother?
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That's correct.
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I love There's enough because.
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Yeah, go ahead.
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Let,
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let me just say this.
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See what, what people, a lot of people do not know is that every
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Thursday at our house at 11 o'clock, I'm the, I'm the youngest of five,
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so my brothers and sisters, I.
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All of us got picked up at nine 30 in the morning from Catholic
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school, and we came home every Thursday at nine 30 in the morning.
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And the reason we came home is that our mother and father, but mostly
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mom, would be cooking her sauce, her spaghetti, making her homemade ravioli,
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chicken bread, and um, uh, salad.
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My dad would have us five set the dining room table, not the kitchen table.
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The dining room table in our home was only used for the highest of guests.
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Okay?
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Um, and so at 11 o'clock every Thursday morning.
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Uh, would be a loud horn sound, and then in the front door by their description.
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And when I mean there, I mean, our house guests would be four
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huge, stinky, smelly garbage men.
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Oh, I love that.
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Then they would looking to be fast.
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They would come
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to, they would come to the dining room table.
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Oh, that's
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beautiful.
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And my, my mom and dad had us five serve them.
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Oh,
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that's wonderful.
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We, we would not sit
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with them.
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We would not eat with them.
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We would serve them.
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And then, um, it was eight years ago that I.
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I was speaking on January 26th.
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I was speaking in Houston, Texas.
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I finished my speaking and there was just something tugging me to go the,
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the next day was gonna be Thursday.
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I rearranged my flight.
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I drove to Texas, two hours to Houston, outside of Houston to Orange, Texas.
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I went and there was my mother, 88 years old.
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She was cooking.
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It was Thursday morning.
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I helped her.
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We fed the garbage man.
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Uh, I went outside, I took a selfie.
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I have the selfie here.
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I took a selfie.
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And when I went in, my mother had collapsed and died.
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Yeah.
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Oh, that's makes sense.
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And what is very, wait,
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what?
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What is very interesting is that in her will.
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She only left five things to want each of us children.
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One thing for each child, there were five of us, and the rest of the items had to
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go to an organization called St. Vincent DePaul, which is an outreach organization.
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Mm-hmm.
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That feeds and clothes and nurtures individuals in need.
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And so one of the things, she left my oldest brother.
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Her nativity set.
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She left my oldest sister, her wedding ring, my middle brother got the sauce pot.
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My sister next to me got a bro, and I got the sauce recipe.
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Ooh.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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And so, oh, you're the winner.
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That's right.
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And then I in turn turned the sauce.
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Into allowing others to receive it and keep that tradition going.
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So your mom, your mom passed away actually at the point of serving others.
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Yes.
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And now you continue that tradition.
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That's correct.
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It's beautiful.
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That's absolutely beautiful.
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I can't think a better way to talk about spirituality and food.
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Well, I was just about to say it's a way Yeah,
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that that's exactly, is that not really, regardless of what white
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faith tradition you belong to.
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I agree.
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Yes.
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That, that.
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Is Yes.
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The whole concept.
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Mm-hmm.
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Of what we're called to do.
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Oh, how inspiring that is and yeah.
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Oh, it falls into just a. Different category of even thinking.
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It makes chills come up and down me, it, it chill down
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my back thinking, oh my gosh.
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Right.
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And, but it's a good chill.
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It's a good chill.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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Uh, what a beautiful, so that was, you know, gosh, no wonder
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you are doing what you do.
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You are just like born to do what you're doing.
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Well,
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I, I, but I, I think the thing is, you know.
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Well, what, let, let's even, you know, you brought up that whole sense of,
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you know, as soon as you're born, you know, you're, you're looking for that
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nurture and even, well, what, what we know at this time, and I don't know by
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the time the podcast is aired, but we know at this time it's a critical moment
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for Pope Francis who is who is ill.
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But isn't it interesting always when someone is ill, we
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wanna know, are they eating?
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Arely receiving, you know, and that when we hear that they've stopped
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eating or stopped drinking, happens.
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That's exactly right.
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Happens to us.
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Mm-hmm.
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Mm-hmm.
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We immediately, I mean, go on high alert red flags.
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It's panic.
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Start showing.
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It's a panic.
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That's right.
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It's panic and, and so it's very interesting from the aspect of
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illness, how, one of the questions that is always asked is, you know.
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Uh, are they eating?
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Uh, yeah.
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How, how is their appetite?
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Yeah.
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You know, that type of thing.
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You know, it's, it's interesting On that point, when my dad was in hospice,
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we brought him home to home hospice.
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He had stopped eating, uh, one of his, he had a last request, which
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was food, which was clam chowder.
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We have, that's episode number two, podcast number two for anybody who has
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not heard it, but the other way that.
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Um, we knew my aides and my sister and I that we could take care of
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ourselves at that point in time because it's just as important for the
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caregiver to take care of themselves.
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That's right.
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And that, as hard as that is to accept, we all took turns every single night making
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a favorite family dish from one another.
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So it was our way to sort of bring home and nurture.
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To everybody who was taking care of my dad and my mom at the time.
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And so, um, food played such an important part, even though my dad couldn't
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eat and he did ask for clam chowder.
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Um, we fed, we fed him in many different ways, um, emotionally,
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spiritually, and we fed ourselves with things that would nurture us.
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Yeah,
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that's something that I share with, with people as a minister, as as a human being.
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I always tell people, you know, you also.
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Don't forget about yourself.
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You have to take care of you as well.
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Mm-hmm.
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You know, and you know, when I've had any type of things be to God,
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not a lot of medical procedures, but when I've had to have some type of
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surgery that morning, I always bring food for the, the nurses, you know?
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I do.
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Yeah.
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Uh, I do, I bring donuts, we do too.
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Mm-hmm.
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Coffee or, or some type of something to let them know that, uh.
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Not only am I grateful for them, but at the same time I hope that they
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take care of themselves as well.
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Oh, that's a beautiful thing.
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Yeah.
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Tell us about the steers.
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I wanna hear one or two of your stories.
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Your steers was funny.
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Yeah.
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That this was a really, very much unique, um, situation.
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So I was asked to go and speak in a very rural area of Texas.
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And, um, what, when I speak, I go in on the weekend, I celebrate all of the
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liturgies that take place, and then, uh, my program is called or, uh, 60 Minutes
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for Jesus, where I just speak for and share story tell telling for 60 minutes.
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So here I am in this very rural community, a very small church, one of
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the smallest churches I've ever been in.
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Everyone was in denim jeans, cowboy boots, huge belt buckles.
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It's Texas after.
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All right.
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Everything's big in Texas.
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That is, yes.
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And the church, you know, there, there was a family, but the pastor
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got.
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Sick.
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He got covid and they asked me if there were any emergencies
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if I would take over for that.
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And I said, well, yes, I can do that.
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But you also have to realize something that as a missionary, I have two sets
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of clothes and only one little carry on.
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Yeah.
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And I have my sandals, my shorts, and my hoodie that I wear.
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So they only had one mass for the weekend because the community was so small, so
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celebrated Mass, had the first night talk.
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Monday morning, I get a frantic phone call from the secretary.
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Father Jim.
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Father Jim, you've got to get out to the Hughes's farm.
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You're needed out at the uses farm.
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I'm like, well slow down here.
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I don't even know who the uses are.
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I don't even know where their farm is.
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I'm not from here.
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All I have are sandal shorts and a hoodie.
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And they, uh, she gave me the address.
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She said, do you remember that family that sat in the front row?
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And I said, oh, yeah, there were like nine children.
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They said, yes, that, that's the uses.
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There's something happening out there.
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You need to go.
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So I immediately took off, put the address in my GPS out on back Farm
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roads in the middle of nowhere.
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USA.
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I pulled up to this farm.
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There were ambulance, police, firefighters ran out, I mean,
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in the middle of the farm.
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And can I tell you something?
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Mm-hmm.
17:31
Let me, I, I always say this, I said, you can tell I'm a city boy because
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I should have never been in sandals.
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Yeah.
17:39
Jumping out.
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Not in Texas.
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Nope.
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And that's right in the middle of those pastures.
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But the second, the second thing that was most amazing to me were how smart.
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Those animals were.
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Oh, I mean, we're talking large animals.
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Oh yeah.
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Snotty cows.
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Yeah, I get it.
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Oh, oh yes.
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Big snotty cows.
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And can I tell you something?
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They looked at me if I, if they had a bubble over their head.
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It was basically saying this.
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You don't belong here.
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Oh, no.
18:13
You know, so
18:13
they didn't
18:13
park the ways for Father Joe?
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No, no, no.
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They, they were,
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they gave me the eye.
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But they knew, they knew something was wrong and it was, yeah.
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The father of the nine children who owned the farm, 50 years old, died
18:29
out in the middle of the field.
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Oh
18:31
no.
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Okay.
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So, I mean, what do you do?
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And I'm there and I learned a valuable lesson from two people.
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One was, one is from Pope Francis and the second one was
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from the Bishop of Lexington.
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His name is John Stowe, who's also a foodie.
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I. He, they both taught something called the Ministry of Presence, not the Ministry
19:00
of Words, but the Ministry of Presence.
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And you know, just on a side note, that's very interesting because
19:08
oftentimes when you're really eating with people that you know and you love.
19:15
A lot of times there will be moments of silence and you're okay with that.
19:19
You're okay with that?
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Uh, either because you're filling your mouth or, yeah.
19:24
Or just comfortable.
19:24
Or you're comfortable.
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Yeah, you're comfortable.
19:27
So that's something I did.
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I, there was nothing I could say, so I sat in the farmhouse and they knew I was there
19:37
and the farming community came and drove.
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I remember that.
19:44
They asked me, they said, father, our pastor is sick.
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What can I said?
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What can I do for you?
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They said, could you do the funeral?
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And I said, well, I'm only here till Wednesday.
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And they said, we'll, we'll take you.
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And so I did the funeral on Wednesday.
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What was very interesting was right before the funeral, I heard the
20:03
two youngest children say, what are we gonna do now that Dad has died?
20:09
Who is gonna take us this weekend?
20:13
For the auction, we're auctioning off our animals.
20:19
At the Houston Livestock Rodeo Show these two kids each had a steer
20:25
among them and they were members of an organization called FFA.
20:28
Sure.
20:29
FFA.
20:29
Future Farmers of America.
20:31
Future Farmers of America,
20:31
that's right.
20:32
And what were they gonna do?
20:33
Because this is, this was an important part.
20:36
With me, they had to step up and be a, a father to their family.
20:40
Yeah.
20:40
Yeah.
20:41
Well, what was interesting, that stuck with me, but I had to fly off.
20:44
So I flew off to Orlando and I remember that feeling now what?
20:50
Mm-hmm.
20:50
What is gonna happen to those children?
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And so that day when I landed, I called FFA.
20:57
I called the national headquarters.
20:58
It was so funny.
20:59
I said, my name is Father Jim.
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I'm, I'm, uh, need to speak.
21:03
And they said, wait a minute.
21:04
Are you the priest that was at the funeral yesterday?
21:08
And I said, were you there?
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And they said, yes.
21:12
Uh, I said, were you one of the people in the FFA jackets?
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You know, 'cause they wear those corduroy jackets.
21:18
Yeah,
21:18
those corduroy blue jackets.
21:20
I said, you know, the two young children said.
21:24
You know about their steers, and they said, yeah, they're going to
21:28
auction at the Livestock Rodeo Show.
21:30
I said, how can I help them?
21:32
They said, well, why don't you come to the auction?
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I said, I can't do that.
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I can't do that.
21:37
I said, I'm in Orlando.
21:39
I said, but how can I help them?
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They said, well, you can.
21:43
We can call you.
21:45
You can be part of the bidding.
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Oh, and I've never, I've never bid on an animal in my life.
21:52
I've never even bid on anything.
21:54
So that's what they did.
21:55
They called me without the kids knowing.
21:59
And, uh, this is what I heard, uh, when they called me.
22:02
So you bid up
22:03
the price?
22:04
Well, well, I didn't know what I was doing, to be honest with you.
22:07
Okay.
22:07
So yeah, I tell
22:08
you how that's how auctions work.
22:09
You get a shill in there, like bid 'em up.
22:11
That's right.
22:11
So this is what I heard.
22:14
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,
22:15
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
22:17
Yeah.
22:17
And I'm like, what is going on?
22:18
I said, where are we?
22:19
And they said, we're at 3 cents.
22:22
Almost 3 cents.
22:23
Pound.
22:23
Pound, 3 cents.
22:24
No, I just said 3 cents.
22:26
I said, you all.
22:27
That's ridiculous.
22:28
Yeah.
22:28
I said $5, $5 and you could hear a pin drop and the the
22:36
auctioneer said, verify the bid.
22:40
And I said, $5.
22:42
And he said, sold $5.
22:44
And then they immediately, they immediately brought the next
22:48
steer, the of the daughter.
22:50
And they started again.
22:52
And I said, well, wait a minute.
22:53
$10. $10. And they said, sold.
22:58
And, um, I wrote two checks to, was that per pound or was that, wait, wait, wait.
23:04
I, I, I sent two checks to FFA, one for $5 and one for $10.
23:10
Oh no.
23:12
And um, a month later I got a phone call from Bishop Stowe.
23:19
And the CFO of the diocese, uhoh.
23:23
And, um, now Bishop s what's this?
23:25
I have to, I have to know, I have to context this.
23:29
Bishop Stowe is a Franciscan.
23:32
Okay.
23:32
And if you know anything about Franciscans, they are big on
23:37
the poor, the marginalized.
23:40
Mm-hmm.
23:40
They're big on helping the outcast.
23:43
They're big on, they will be the last person to leave your dining room table.
23:47
In the big house.
23:48
'cause they, you know, they love conversation.
23:51
They love all this
23:52
for food.
23:52
Yeah.
23:53
So he called me and he had the CFO of the diocese on the phone, who it was
23:59
not a particular fan of me or my antics.
24:04
And the bishop said, uh, father Jim, um, did you buy.
24:09
Any cattle in the last month.
24:11
And I said, well, yeah, I, I said, I did.
24:13
I said, I bought two steers for $15 and the CFO chimed in and
24:20
said, who said they were $15?
24:23
I said, I said, and I have the checks to prove it.
24:28
And the bishop said, are you sure that it wasn't $5 a pound and $10 a pound?
24:37
And I said, well, I don't think so.
24:40
And the A CFO says, well, we have a bill here.
24:44
Oh no.
24:44
That says you owe 50 over 20,000.
24:50
Oh my God.
24:51
And she said, and the CFO said.
24:55
We want that paid by the end of the week.
24:59
And I said, well, wait a minute.
25:00
How much do these things weigh?
25:04
And the first one weighed over 1500 pounds.
25:07
You didn't order chicken.
25:09
That's right.
25:10
The second.
25:11
The second was over.
25:13
1300 pounds.
25:16
Oh my goodness.
25:16
And the bishop chimed in and he said, and I quote, he said, you know, in reality,
25:23
this isn't Father Jim's first rodeo.
25:27
He said, he said, I'm gonna give him a month to raise money to figure
25:33
this out, to raise that money.
25:34
Yeah.
25:34
Well, let me tell you what I did, because it all comes full circle to your story.
25:40
And that is that that night.
25:43
I put a picture of both children and their steers that I bought, and I simply
25:49
said, I've done some crazy missionary of mercy for Pope Francis, but this is the
25:56
craziest last month I buried the father of these nine children, and today I found
26:05
out that I purchased both of their steers.
26:09
For $20,000.
26:11
I said, God will provide that.
26:14
After that evening, after I posted that, I got a phone call.
26:18
Love.
26:19
I got a phone call from a man named Ed Bastion.
26:23
I don't know if your listeners know, know, I know, I know.
26:26
Ed Bastion.
26:27
CEO is the CEO and President of Delta.
26:31
Of Delta Delta Airlines.
26:33
Oh my goodness.
26:33
Now, this was, this is before my mom's sauce was used on the airline.
26:40
And he said to me, he said to me, uh, father Jim, I said, yes.
26:44
He said, my name is Ed Basian.
26:47
I said, I know who you are.
26:49
He said, the reason I'm calling today is to thank you for your
26:54
loyalty to Delta Airlines.
26:56
Mm-hmm.
26:57
He said to me, every time you're on an airplane, you give
27:02
our flight attendants an our.
27:05
Pilots gift cards.
27:08
Oh,
27:08
and you, they report back to me and tell me this.
27:13
And so I just wanna thank you for feeding our Delta family, and I
27:19
just want you to know if there's anything we can ever do for you,
27:25
things happen to you, please let
27:28
us know.
27:29
Well,
27:29
it just happened and Right.
27:31
Something.
27:31
Right before, that's right.
27:32
Right before you hung up the phone, I said, Mr.
27:34
Bastion.
27:35
And he said, yes.
27:36
I said, I need $20,000
27:40
and can I tell you
27:41
something?
27:42
That night he wired the money to Bishop Stove.
27:46
Oh,
27:47
sweet.
27:48
A week later.
27:50
He brought all of the family, flew them up to Lexington.
27:56
Oh, so they he knew the story.
27:58
Oh,
27:59
yes, yes.
27:59
I, I told him, uh, I told him what I needed the 20,000 for.
28:04
He flew them up.
28:06
He flew on that same plane.
28:09
All of the meat processed.
28:11
Yeah.
28:12
And we, along with the dish and the.
28:17
Uh, director of Agriculture for Kentucky, the Secretary of Agriculture,
28:23
we distributed that food to all of the four of That's amazing.
28:28
That's amazing.
28:29
Ah, what a story.
28:31
You create stories, but I,
28:33
I think, I think the thing is though, what, for me, ever
28:38
since I was a little kid.
28:40
Sitting around the dining room table on my end spot in the kitchen table.
28:45
That's what we did at dinner time.
28:47
Yeah.
28:48
We
28:48
broke bread and we shared stories and, and that's what we do at church
28:54
or that's what we do at gatherings.
28:56
Mm-hmm.
28:56
Or that's what we do at Wakes or that's what we do.
29:00
I mean that share stories.
29:01
That that is reality.
29:03
Yes.
29:03
Yes.
29:04
And you've done all kinds of work in the floods.
29:06
You've, you've, you, you are just a random.
29:09
A kindness guide.
29:11
Yes.
29:12
But I think the thing is, is through the kindness, you know, you're, you're
29:16
feeding, you're, you're nurturing.
29:19
Mm-hmm.
29:19
You are sustaining, you are consoling.
29:23
You know, I, I don't know about anyone else, but you know, when I'm
29:26
nervous, I eat, uh, when I'm, oh, yeah.
29:28
I'm sad.
29:30
I, I eat, but not as well.
29:32
I may eat things that are not really substantial.
29:36
Okay.
29:36
I know when, when I'm on a plane.
29:39
IE. And I'm waiting for a plane, ie. Uh, you know, there, there's that sense of,
29:44
there's a connection there of, of what our body craves and what we're called to be.
29:52
So if I may, father Cisco, we're gonna take a short little break because we
29:56
need to feed our souls in other ways too.
29:58
Yes, that's right.
30:00
And then we'll be back with the second half of this podcast.
30:08
Okay, everybody, welcome back.
30:10
So we're going to go back to our podcast with Father Jim and in
30:15
between I showed Father Jim that I was whistling and Oscar Meyer.
30:20
I. Wiener whistle.
30:21
That's so, that sounds a little bizarre.
30:23
Adorable.
30:23
But believe me, I know the person who drove the Oscar Meyer Wiener car, and
30:28
we'll probably have her on at some point, but we were talking about how
30:32
these cattle had actually fed not just a family in many ways after they lost
30:38
their father, but fed an entire community.
30:41
And that sort of brings us to the whole concept of the spirituality of food,
30:45
which really is so important in our lives.
30:48
And, and Father Jim, you were talking about how.
30:50
Your family came to the table and everybody knew exactly
30:54
where their place was.
30:55
Mm-hmm.
30:56
Oh, yes.
30:57
Yes.
30:57
I, I mean, I, I will tell you, even to today, our family home, you have the
31:04
seats that still have the names on them.
31:07
Of all my brothers and sisters and my mother and father.
31:10
Mm-hmm.
31:11
We didn't sit in those seats unless.
31:14
I mean, we did it.
31:15
You just did not, yeah.
31:17
And everyone had their place, and guess what?
31:20
They were comfortable with that space and that was their space.
31:24
And what was also very interesting though, we always had a plate reserved for a
31:31
guest, whether they would show or not.
31:34
Mm-hmm.
31:34
Mm-hmm.
31:35
So there was an empty chair.
31:36
Yeah.
31:36
Always
31:37
interesting.
31:37
Yes.
31:38
Always.
31:38
Always.
31:38
What a family.
31:40
We didn't have an empty chair in our house, but we always knew where we sat.
31:44
And anytime my dad was out on a trip or, or you know, whatever, one other
31:48
family member, there's only four of us.
31:50
It felt odd if we sat in dad's chair.
31:53
It was uncomfortable.
31:54
We were displaced and we all had our own napkin rings that had been passed
31:57
down over the family generation.
31:59
So I totally get it.
32:01
And then you said too, uh, said, when we were talking before we started,
32:05
about the church set up as a table.
32:08
And the food is brought and tables are so significant.
32:13
Well, there are three things, at least in the Catholic church that are required
32:19
in a church for a church to be church.
32:22
Number one, the altar, the table number two, the presiders chair.
32:31
The person who is overseeing.
32:34
And number three, the platform from where the person proclaims the word.
32:41
And so a lot of churches you will see, especially in the more modern
32:47
age, had the altar in the center of the church with the pews.
32:54
All around.
32:55
All around.
32:56
And therefore it was more of a part of a communal aspect, you know,
33:04
where, where everyone is part of the meal, where everyone mm-hmm.
33:10
Receives the word everyone is part of, of the community.
33:16
Versus being at the front of the church where That's correct.
33:19
Um, I grew up in, in, in the Christian community as, as an Episcopal.
33:23
Right.
33:23
And the church physical churches is in the shape of a cross.
33:27
That's right.
33:27
Where if you look down at it, the, but the, um, the altar was
33:31
always at the front, top area.
33:33
Right.
33:33
Versus in the center.
33:34
Mm-hmm.
33:35
That's right.
33:35
Yeah.
33:35
So a very.
33:36
That's more of the traditional aspect, right, of architecture, but you know,
33:41
wi within our home, just like I said, you know, the dining room table was
33:46
only used for extremely special guests.
33:52
And extremely people of honor.
33:55
It was very interesting.
33:56
The kitchen table was a much more relaxed atmosphere and it was, you
34:03
know, we had our set places mm-hmm.
34:06
And our set behavior and, you know, it was, it was just very unique.
34:11
Let me, uh, get you to, there's past iron skillets mean a lot to me.
34:16
Oh, yes.
34:16
Uh, I have a mental picture of my father.
34:19
He didn't cook much, but he cooked cornbread in that iron skillet.
34:25
And so, you know, I keep, I get that image in my mind.
34:28
And then there was the beautiful little story, a lot of stories about Dolly
34:32
Parton, who's an iconic kindness person.
34:35
Right, right.
34:36
Yes.
34:36
And she does constant acts of kindness.
34:39
But there was, and
34:40
she say she loves to eat.
34:42
She loves to eat.
34:43
Yeah.
34:43
For as tiny as she is, I know she, she always says when she is off
34:49
of touring, she eats like a pig.
34:53
That's what she says.
34:54
That's hard.
34:55
That's part of her words, you know?
34:57
And what was very interesting, I'll say this real quick.
34:59
When I met her, and which I've met her many times, people
35:03
have given me food to give her.
35:05
And when I give them to her, I said, do you want me.
35:08
Do you want me to take this and, and give it to a shelter?
35:11
And she's like, no, I want you to take it and give it to me, and I'm putting
35:15
it on the bus and we're gonna eat it.
35:17
You know,
35:17
I could just hear her say that.
35:19
Yes.
35:19
But she, uh, she donated, apparently she is, uh, branded, uh, lodge Iron
35:24
Skillet and gave it in care, uh, for caregivers, a fundraiser for caregivers.
35:29
Yes, she did.
35:29
And, uh, yeah.
35:30
So I mean, that's just, but that's just the tip of the iceberg
35:33
of all the people that you.
35:35
Meet.
35:36
Yeah.
35:36
Well, I, I think one of the unique things, uh, people ask
35:40
me this question all the time.
35:41
They say to me, how do you meet all these people?
35:45
And how do you experience all these experiences?
35:48
And, and to be honest with you, I. I think we all do.
35:52
If we have an open mind, heart, and eyes and ears, you know,
35:58
it, it costs nothing to be kind.
36:01
It costs nothing really.
36:03
Uh, that's right.
36:03
To invite someone to your table.
36:06
And, and I, I think it, it's a most fascinating.
36:10
You know, I'm, I'm in the middle of Kansas as we record this
36:14
right now in Western Kansas.
36:16
I'm, I'm literally having flashbacks of being out in the middle of nowhere,
36:21
USA, but what's very interesting is I found a small diner here.
36:27
Oh.
36:27
And
36:27
that's where I had lunch today.
36:30
And everyone in the diner knew just when I walked in, I was not.
36:38
I, I was not from there.
36:40
Yeah.
36:41
You're not in Kansas or you are in Kansas.
36:43
That, well, it was, you know,
36:44
very interesting because everywhere head turned and people were trying to
36:51
figure out, now who is this person?
36:54
What are they doing here?
36:55
But the stories and the sharing?
36:58
The Oh, the
36:59
listening in, yes.
37:00
Of those stories.
37:01
It wasn a riot.
37:02
Oh.
37:02
Oh.
37:02
I think that,
37:03
I think that's the priest that's here visiting.
37:06
You know?
37:07
I love it.
37:08
Yeah.
37:10
Father Jim, you know, I was an owner.
37:12
We had to close a zoo.
37:13
On December 31st, we're hoping to get it back going again.
37:17
But the stories that I heard and the people came there to celebrate,
37:21
mourn, uh, laugh, cry, do all of the things in between, it was just
37:26
beautiful, uh, to, to, I loved it.
37:28
I loved owning a restaurant.
37:30
Yeah, that's right.
37:30
And,
37:31
and it's a, it, it's part of a, a whole aspect of feeding others is mm-hmm.
37:37
Is really a grace.
37:39
And feeding our soul.
37:40
Soul is a soul.
37:40
You, your soul.
37:41
You have to be open
37:41
to give as well as receive as they say, correct?
37:44
Yes.
37:44
You, you do.
37:45
Yeah.
37:45
You do.
37:47
What about a song?
37:48
What about a song?
37:49
Oh, you know, I, I will, I will, uh, um.
37:54
I will think of a song.
37:56
I, I will, does Marie
37:57
have a jingle?
37:58
No, I wish she did.
37:59
We've gotta work on that.
38:01
Let me, let me tell you what I wish she did, but I, I will, uh,
38:05
I, you know, when, when I struggle or when I'm tired out on the road.
38:11
There is a little thing that I sing in it, and this is what I sing.
38:15
I go in his world, the shall have tribulations, but be of good cheer.
38:27
Be of good cheer.
38:30
For I have overcome the world, and what it reminds me is that there is a much
38:38
higher power than what is going on today.
38:41
Yes, yes.
38:42
And that no matter what happens, you know, life goes on.
38:48
Life goes on, you know, and, and the same thing with every one of us.
38:53
We, we are called to stay in the moment and to work through it.
38:58
And if it means nourishing and feeding our soul right now, then we stop and do it.
39:03
If it means feeding and nourishing someone else's soul, then it
39:06
means we stop and do it, you know?
39:09
Ministry for me of presence is really a ministry of feeding
39:15
and gathering around the table.
39:18
And you don't need to be a minister to do so.
39:20
No.
39:21
Or a priest.
39:21
No, of
39:22
course not.
39:23
No.
39:23
Yes.
39:24
And I'm so glad that you say that.
39:25
You know what I mean?
39:27
Everyone, everyone can be a minister.
39:29
Everyone mm-hmm.
39:30
Is gifted.
39:30
I And wish I have been, lemme tell you something, I have been fed more.
39:34
By the least in our community and by the outcasts of our community, more
39:40
than those who I can, uh, name as top a celebrities and, and, and people.
39:48
Oh, that's beautiful.
39:48
That's a beautiful way to, uh, to end this show of Father Jim.
39:52
Yes.
39:52
And as Sylvia, I like to say.
39:55
Every meal has a story and every story is a feast.
39:57
And I would have to say that this show alone in our conversation
40:01
has been more than a feast delightful, and a story to live by.
40:06
And thank you so much for being our guest.
40:08
Oh, you're best welcome.