On Burnt Butter

Burnt butter causes food to smell bad – even taste bad. Think of burnt buttered popcorn. Yikes – a delicacy gone array!

Whether frying, baking, sautéing, or making a sauce, Julie Child loved cooking with butter. Stores provide regular butter, whipped butter, salted butter, unsalted butter, yogurt butter, sweet cream butter, and countless substitutes as margarine and oleo. The American Heart Association promotes certain brands. Heck, the Ohio State Fair currently features two NFL players carved in butter.

Many also recognize Cincinnati for its novelty butter known to some as Big Butter Jesus (from a song) – known to others as the King of Kings statue – even Touchdown Jesus to others. I have passed this statue many times, but no trip was more unique than the morning in mid-June when I passed the burnt remains.

I imagine that everyone has heard the news about the fire quickly engulfing the structure after lightning struck the structure. However, ever since then I found the reaction by people.

I was cautious that morning at work because I didn’t want to say the wrong thing to someone – so I listened. Some joked, while others were bothered. Nonetheless, I knew that one outcome would be a sudden influx of dollars for rebuilding. I wonder how much came in the first day?

To some, the fire was a sign from God that he disapproved of the statue. To others it’s a sign to build something bigger and better. After all, the church says it does a lot of outreach with its income – and the statue promotes income. So I ask this question – Is each side a variation of the other, thus equally off target?

I have professed my Christian beliefs here, thus find both arguments above equally misguided. Yes, I believe God created our universe, but one with power, stability, and free will. Nature’s systems ebb and flow through a natural undulating stream of maintenance that involves both calm and force … all with the goal of our planet having a steady state.

God did not send hurricanes and earthquakes to teach New Orleans and Haiti a lesson. God did not cause people to drown in raging flood waters. God did not cause deadly accidents on our highways every day. God doesn’t punish someone with cancer and nope – God didn’t send a sign to anyone when lightning struck the Jesus statue.

Nature’s actions happen naturally through a similar free will God grants all of us. Through love, God allows all living things and forces of nature to be themselves. Since lightning is the build up and release of electrical charges, it simply strikes where and when the conditions are right.

For anyone thinking this is my science side, sorry, it’s my theological side. Meanwhile, see this post from the past about popcorn, something that doesn’t taste well burnt.