Like every kid at one time, I thought that sugar was the most important thing in life. As a result, it became almost a full time job for my mother to prevent me from getting my hands inside the bowl of sugar. However, I was very adamant about my right to sweetness that I cried “tears of a cup” even when she gave me food without sugar.

One day, while I was eating my salted food with tears in my eyes, my Mom did what was rather unexpected. She unlocked the top drawer of the cupboard and pulled out the carefully hidden jar of sugar and set it before me. She then gave me a clean tea spoon and told me that I could add as much sugar to my food as I wanted. I could not believe it! As much sugar as I wanted in my food? Yes!

And so I scooped sugar from the jar and added it to my food. I was careful to pile up the spoon just in case my mom changed her mind before I had the chance to add the next spoonful. However, she just looked at me patiently as I added the several spoonfuls and then mixed them with my “githeri” until the brown soup almost turned colorless. And then with much anticipation, I tasted the first spoon. It was the worst tasting food I have ever encountered in my short life!

When I attempted to push the food away, my mother put on her stern look and carefully informed me that unless I finished my sugar syrupped “githeri” I would never eat anything else. I can’t quite remember how much time it took for me to finish the awful tasting food but even my crying “tears of a bucket” didn’t move my mother. After that incident I learnt that sometimes, salt and not sugar is required to make something palatable. Needless to say, my mother and I never had any sugar related disagreements after that.

As grown ups, the scene plays up often when God presents us with what we need, and we throw never-ending tantrums because it is not what we want. And often these disagreements come as we assert our rights to what we consider to be the sweet life. But the sweet life is not the only thing that we need. Sometimes we need some saltiness, some heat, some spice, and even some bitterness in order for us to grow as human beings. And as we go back to gladly accepting what he gives us, we realize that God always knows what is best for us at any one time.