(Jim begins)  Small wisps of smoke rise from the neighborhood backyards.  Whiffs of chicken, hamburger and sometimes even steak waft on summer breezes.  It’s time to haul out the grill.  One of the things I have inherited from my father is an appreciation for the preparation and consumption of grilled food.  Over time, Dad owned a number of different charcoal grills.  They all required a complicated lighting process which sent my brothers and me scurrying for sticks and newspapers.  Half the fun was watching my father singe his eyebrows when he fired up the grill.  With the invention of lighter fluid and the electric starter, the whole process lost its attraction.  It’s been more than forty years since Dad brought home his first Weber, a covered kettle type charcoal grill.  For our family, the Weber produced meat, seafood and even vegetables that remain unsurpassed in my memory.

(Ann) Shortly after Jim and I married, a delivery man arrived with our first Weber, a gift from his parents.  One afternoon, we invited friends over for a smoked turkey, our particular grilled specialty.  We put the turkey on in plenty of time, covered it and busied ourselves with other things.  Shortly before the guests arrived, we peeked at the bird and were horrified to find it barely half done.  I turned on the oven and handed Jim a pan from the counter.  He brought the turkey in to finish cooking it indoors.  In the emergency, I had handed Jim a pan that had been squirted with dishwashing liquid due to a prior use.  Our guests arrived to find the turkey bubbling away in soap gravy.  We ate something else that afternoon – crow, I think.

(Jim and Ann) Fortunately for us, this type of gathering carries on hospitality in a Christian sense.  Mistakes are easily forgiven.  From Abraham, who served a picnic to the Lord under the oak tree at Mamre, to Jesus, who grilled fish on the shore of Tiberias, simple food served outdoors has been a symbol of friendship.  Food cooked outside tells our friends that we like them well enough to put ourselves out a little, but that we’d rather focus on them than on what we eat.  Hospitality from our hearts and gratitude for those who come to share it fit in well with our faith.  When one of our boys married, he asked if he could have his own Weber as a wedding gift.  We were not surprised and more than a little pleased by his choice.