Just coming through and now on this side of the holiday season, we probably all still have fond memories of all the delicious food we ate, especially the desserts, which come in varieties, including pies of all shapes, sizes, and flavors. The ingredients vary but when someone gets the ratios of those ingredients just right, with the particular flavors we love, you know what we say in the south, “It so good, it makes you want to slap your mammie” or “That’s finger lickin’ good” borrowed from the Kentucky Fried Chicken slogan, or “That’s the best thing I’ve eaten since great grandma’s apple pie”, which could apply to many things that you are currently tasting. I used to bake more pies in our home when our children were little, but sadly to say, I have mostly gone to store bought these days. This Christmas our second daughter, Ashley surprised us with her first ever attempt at ‘great grandma’s apple pie’ and though it needed a little tweaking for next year, it had a delicious flavor. Then our youngest daughter, Audrey, invited us over for a late Christmas meal at their home, and made the most delicious meal as well as a homemade, scrumptious banana pudding. Wow, why do I even need to cook anymore, they have this down pat! LOL
As the phrase goes, “everyone wants a piece of the pie!” This idiom originated in the early twentieth century as a common saying, meaning that everyone wants their share or portion of whatever they are discussing at the time, and it should be divided equally between the beneficiaries. Whether it is actual food, or other resources. Pies themselves were a more common dessert ‘back in the day’ for socials, as well as church and community gatherings, and though we have added more diversity to our dessert menu, the phrase still stuck. It was later adapted in business use, to indicate metaphorically, that the entities involved in a particular venture would all receive a fair share, or agreed upon share of the money, resources, and profits.
I am not an accountant, but I have held jobs that require me to know how to work with numbers, statistics, charts, graphs, percentages, and more. Often, especially during presentations in business settings, they will use visual aids to get their point across. They can show profits and losses, highs and lows of sales, year end totals and comparisons from month to month or year to year. This allows them to keep the attention of the audience more easily, because pure statistics can get boring at times. In doing so, one common aide that is used is the ‘pie chart.’ I have never thought of this before, but this may be the most effective method, because the onlookers can see who or what category is receiving the biggest ‘piece of the pie,’ and it may not be them or their department. This can be very eye opening. For instance, in simple terms, we have done our personal books on a Microsoft Money program for years, and have things broken down into basic categories such as charitable giving, mortgage, utilities, medical expenses, insurance, car loans, clothing, entertainment, pets, groceries, gasoline, and miscellaneous. The categories can be as broad or specific as you would like, along with subcategories to each, if desired. It can really be a rude awakening moment when you see how much of the ‘pie’ goes to each and how many resources land in the miscellaneous segment! What, why, where, and when, are the questions that begin to run through our minds at tax time.
We recently had to take part in a training session at my job that was introducing the concept of ‘incremental’ decision making. It was teaching the learners firstly, how objectives could be broken down into smaller parts and pieces, to assist in making the right choices as well as timely choices. This can be done with goals in work or home to assist in a larger project that may seem daunting or overwhelming. You may have a project that is not due for three to six months, but if you do not know how to get it done one piece at a time, you will procrastinate to the last minute thinking that you have plenty of time, and you will not be able to get it done, or if you do, it will not be your best work and may not meet the requirements or standards that your superiors are expecting from you. Secondly, delegating increments of the project to another person or team can be beneficial to the whole team, and project, in the end. Each employee or member of a team or committee has their own strengths and weaknesses, and these can be capitalized on to get the job done more efficiently and effectively. For example, if the entire task is due in six months, each segment of the ‘pie’ could have a due date of one month, to get to the finish line on time and in style.
We all know the concept of a puzzle is remarkably similar. If you have ever put together a puzzle, then you know that you separate the outside pieces from the others, then the pieces that may be about the same color are put into another stack, then you put the portions that look like objects in the picture together. It is not until all this prep work is done that you begin to assemble the complete picture. However, whatever size puzzle you have bought, which is indicated on the outside of the box along with the number of pieces, without the last piece put into place, it is not complete. Here we can see and remember looking back on our puzzle completing days, that the entire process plays a part. The same in business, home, and/or community events or goals, each part and person is valuable to having a complete, finished product. So, making the process palatable, and more achievable, encourages everyone involved, and builds morale and confidence, which has an enormous impact on the success of, and the result of, the final product.
This incremental style of decision making seems to have merit because we know that even in the puzzle example, it can be arduous. We often must walk away and come back to find that one piece that has been evading us for hours. This is where I want to introduce another expression briefly that we have all heard, which is “a slice of life.” I personally thought the two expressions were synonymous, and though they may be used as such now, they did not originate that way. This expression originated from the theaters. It is taken word for word, from the French phrase, ‘tranche de vie’ and was first used by the French playwright, Jean Jullien in the mid to late 1800’s. It is used when you see boring and mundane everyday true to life experiences portrayed in an art form and as entertainment. It often shows characters without any plot twist, excitement, or redeeming end to their stories.
The internet states, “In theatrical parlance, the term ‘slice of life’ refers to a naturalistic representation of real life… It is said that Jullien gave us the famous apothegm defining naturalism in his ‘The Living Theatre’ (1892): “A play is a ‘slice of life’ put onstage with art.” He goes on to say that “…our purpose is not to create laughter but thought.”He felt that the story of a play does not end with the curtain, which is “only an arbitrary interruption of the action which leaves the spectator free to speculate about what goes on beyond your expectation…”In 2017, screenwriter and scholar Eric R. Williams identified ‘slice-of-life’ films as one of eleven super-genres in his screenwriters’ taxonomy, claiming that all feature-length narrative films can be classified by these super-genres. The ten super-genres are: action, crime, fantasy, horror, romance, science fiction, sports, thriller, war and western. Therefore, we can see that the expression the ‘slice of life’ may not be as glamorous as we once thought, and we may not always want a ‘piece’ of everyone’s ‘pie’ aka life.
When we meet someone, we often state things like, “What you see is what you get,” or “Take it or leave it,” or “It is what it is,” or “You do you, I’ll do me.” We will firmly make these claims without reservation, feeling that though we see and know that other people’s lives are compartmentalized, ours most definitely is not. If we think we are always sharing ‘the whole enchilada’ of our lives, we are not only gravely mistaken, but we are missing the beneficial lesson and concept of ‘incremental decision making’ and living. There are more moving parts to making life successful than just ourselves. Though not all the ‘slices of our life’ may be glamorous, and may often be mundane at best, we can all achieve a ‘slice of the delicious pie’ eventually, when we allow the ones, we care about and those who care about us, to be involved in the process as well. Yet while breaking things down to be more manageable for us as humans, the most important lesson to learn is that Jesus must be incorporated into every part of our entire life.
Every segment, slice, and even the dollop of cream on top needs to be filled with His presence. He must be the main category and ingredient in our life. We cannot approach life saying this portion is my work-life, my home-life, my friend-life, my community-life, my social media-life, and my church-life, and many or none of them include the Lord. He is the foundation on which all the other parts should be built upon. A pie without a crust, which covers the entire bottom of the pan, is just a pudding, and though it might be tasty, it would have no defined structure. Jesus is the crust! There are pies that require the crust to be baked twice because it needs to be a solid vessel for the filling or fluff to be poured into.
In the example of the pie chart that I mentioned earlier, the only way that the chart shows how much has been spent in each category is that you have kept up with the data. Leaving any information out will cause it to be inaccurate, though your bank account will show that the money is gone, you will not know where it was spent. Input will equal the output when it comes to computer data. We know that our paychecks do not spread far, but with the Lord as the basis of all we do, it will be able to cover more than we ever expected. He is concerned about every aspect of our lives, even our budgets. A well-constructed pie can often be cut into eighths or even sixteenths, if necessary, to feed many guests.
When it comes time to print your data sheet or pie chart, what will the results be? As we go into the New Year of 2025, looking back on last year, what and where was your time, money, energy, affections, and emotions spent on? What will have taken up the biggest piece of the pie? When it comes to having your ‘slice of life’ acted out on a stage through art and theatrical effects, what lessons will be learned by the audience if any, and will it be thought provoking? What will not be included in the presentation? Have hobbies or entertainment taken up so much time that our prayer life or families will be overshadowed or not even noticed in the production? We need to take an assessment from time to time to make sure we are on track. We may need to look at things in smaller, more detailed increments to make sure that we get things done properly, effectively, efficiently, and timely. In doing so, we may find categories and subcategories in our data graphs that need to be removed altogether, to make the rest of the equation match and balance. We have only been given one life, and it is up to us to use it wisely. We will not be judged when we stand before the throne by who had the most, but by who used what they had most effectively, as we see in the parable told by Jesus in Matthew 25.
We must avail ourselves of the opportunity to assess our lives while we can. We must take advantage of the resources given to us and learn from last year’s information when we look back to make the future more promising and hopeful. If we do not take stock of our time limits, goals, and achievements, or lack thereof now, we may wait until it is too late, and we lack the understanding to be able to make the necessary adjustments. There may be ‘categories’ in your life’s ‘pie chart’ that are no longer applicable. As we mature and grow in grace and knowledge we should make the necessary changes. There are those of you who are list makers, including myself. We mark things off the list, and we feel accomplished, but you cannot throw the list away and give up at the end of the day just because a few of the items did not get done. Make a new list with the undone items at the top and add tomorrow’s tasks on the bottom, but always make sure that Jesus is at the top of the list. He is the ‘stationary heading’ that should always be there, but we must leave excuses off the list. It is said that ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day.’ But the follow-up to that is, ‘It was built.’ No one expects our entire life story, accomplishments, and achievements to come to fruition in a day. It takes a lifetime of ‘incremental decision making.’ You do not have to be an accountant, a mathematician, or a genius to figure things out. Allow the Lord to lead you day by day. One step at a time.
Luke 2:46-52 tells us the story about how Jesus’ parents went looking for him. He was only twelve years old at the time. “And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, how is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business? And they understood not the saying which he spoke unto them. And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart, and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” Jesus was just a boy, and though he astonished everyone with wisdom older than his years, the last verse states that he continued to increase in wisdom as he did in stature. Meaning he matured both physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally in tandem, through the process of time, just as we all must. There is probably a door frame in a home somewhere in Nazareth with notches in it where Mary measured Jesus’ growth from time to time. 2 Peter 2:18 admonishes us, “Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen.” Though distinct types of growth, they are to be done together over time.
The difference between the ‘piece of the pie’ and the ‘slice of life’ is that you now have a chance to adjust the ‘pie chart’ to work at its optimal benefit for your life; however, once you hear the scuttlebutt saying anything about you and the ‘slice of life’, it is only a dramatization and depiction of what has already happened. We do not want Jesus saying to us as he did in Matthew 7:20-23, “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” God deserves to be a part of our entire life, Sunday through Saturday. We must be a Christian twenty-four seven no matter how many compartments we break the rest of our lives into. He must be the center of the whole pie, not just a slice. He does not want to just be a ‘Christmas or Easter service’ God to you.
We see Jesus give an illustration of this in John 13:4-10, “He rose from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poured water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto him, thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needs nothing washed except to wash his feet but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, yet ye are not all clean.” God sees our motives for actions and knows us better than we know ourselves.
The sooner we start paying attention to who or what is getting the biggest ‘piece of the pie’ and begin making the necessary changes, the sooner the drama of our lives will be portrayed in a manner that will leave everyone marveling at the real, naturalistic, ‘Slice of Life’ that they were privileged to watch unfold before their eyes. Our lives will be thought provoking and an inspiration to all who know or see us, and it will lead them straight to Jesus, as Hebrews 12:2 states, “…the author and finisher of our faith.” He will then get the credit he deserves, as the greatest ‘playwright’ of all time, when they see the transformation, he has made in our lives. He will receive all the honor, glory, and praise!