It is not widely known that I am a fantastic chef. It’s not widely known primarily because it’s not true, but let’s not let facts get in the way of my delusion. As a master chef, I was once creating beef stroganoff for my family.
Granted, I use the term “creating” rather loosely. I was dumping frozen mix into our crock pot when the instructions called for adding one and one-half cups of water. It was then that I discovered that our measuring cup was no longer measuring. Time and much handling had worn away the markings painted on the outside of the cup. It’s still a nice cup, but there is no more measuring to be done with it.
“What a liberating discovery!” I thought. (Most anything seems entertaining when you’re cooking frozen stroganoff.) “I don’t need measuring lines! It’s my stroganoff; I can mix it up any way I please. If I really want to get wild, I can use a bowl or pitcher. Who says I have to use an old, worn-out measuring cup?”
You have that same freedom. Throw off the shackles of tradition! Make your stroganoff any way you like. Disclaimer: I am not responsible for how your stroganoff turns out. Mine came out just a tad overly moist. As in, “Hey, Dad, what kind of soup is this?”
Modern morality has often rubbed the lines off the measuring cup. Consider this from a Vermont professor of spirituality and religion: “We’re the authors of our own authority … You can give yourself authority … How do we reshape our sense of spirituality to fit where we are?”

Keith Wishum is minister, Williams Road Church, Americus.