hot sauce.

i got to spend a few hours saturday with my lovely wife in galena, ill. this is one of our fave places to go, eat, and wander. we went to a place called the galena canning company -- one of those food stores where they have samples of sauces and dips and stuff everywhere. this was a pretty cool and fun store -- we walked about, sampling things, and enjoying the extensive variety and creative names of many of the sauces and such. their specialty appeared to be hot sauces. you name it, they had it. near the check out was a row of sauces you could sample -- the usual buffalo wing sauce, the "be careful" hot sauce, and one on the end. the sign read something like "HOT sauce -- we are not kidding, this is really HOT! be careful, consider before you try..." so what do i do? i grab a chip, grin at my wife, and taste. in all honesty, it was only the edge of a tortilla chip -- enough to get a taste. first thought was, "not too bad. nice sign." then...

my mouth ERUPTED. no lie. i couldn't catch my breath. it was like someone had poured acid in the back of my throat. my eyes watered, i grabbed for another chip hoping to quench the burning, and then...

the hiccups started. not just normal hiccups. this awful, uncontrolable, wretching hiccup that just came out of the bottom of my soul. it was like my body was saying, "you didn't expect this to work, did you? now it's time for you to pay for your transgression..." the guy next to me in the store got all wide-eyed, thinking i was about to chuck on his new shoes; kari lost it laughing, and i made my way to the door hoping beyond hope to make it outside where my hic-wretches wouldn't be as noticable mixed with the street noise. these went on for 10 minutes at least, drawing some odd glances and more than one snicker in my general direction. water over dinner took them away, but the memory remains...

isn't that just like us as people? when there is a rule or sign that says "be careful, don't do this", we run right up to it and peer over the edge. or jump past the sign with both feet. or laugh and think, "yeah right". faith comes with a few guidelines that were given to us, not to cramp our style or kill our fun, but rather to ensure that life is lived like it's meant to be lived. when we ingore those things, consequences occur. it's part of the deal...hopefully, the consequences will be enough to remind us next time that the sign is there for a very good reason and we ought to put more time in considering what to do, rather than grinning and dipping our tortilla chip in the hot sauce...