I remember growing up with a weird looking cooking pot…
Mom used every so often. Even though one of these devices sit in our cabinet, I am not sure I have ever consciously cooked anything with this pan. In essence, it cooks in a closed environment, pressuring the contents and helping to cook the contents much quicker. This is so much different than a “slow cooker” that does the same thing over a longer period of time with no high pressure or high heat.The results are often the same, it’s just a different style of cooking.
A Pressure Cooker is generally safe, although there are some inherent dangers.
- One is the failure of the vessel during a cooking evolution. You can imagine the metal vessel rupturing with the resulting release of a large quantity of extremely hot material and superheated water, not to mention the metal fragments.
- The second possible danger is failure of the rubber seal during a cooking operation. This is unusual, but it can happen. The lid will remain on, but hot food and/or superheated water and steam will escape. If one is in close proximity, one can be burned. Then there’s the mess to clean up. Keep the sealing gasket clean and dry. Inspect it regularly, and replace it if any cracks are visible.
- The third of the primary dangers is associated with opening the vessel before the pressure inside has equalized. The owner’s guide will tell the user how to avoid that.
This is sort of what I see happening all around me. It seems like we are contained in a pressure cooker, the temperature is rising, the steam is pouring out of the vent, and the danger exists of catastrophic failure.
- Is our vessel capable of holding up to the pressure?
- Do we have a safe seal to keep unsafe hazards from leaking out onto innocent bystanders?
- Do we have the mechanisms to safely open the cooker so that we can enjoy the results?
If I only had time to think this through! In light of everything, it seems like we are in a pressure cooker and we are facing some dangers that we are not prepared for! From global to national to local pressures, we are struggling with how to maintain balance on every front and not explode!
I believe each of us could name all the issues, and whether you come down on one side or another, we all struggle with the feeling of “loss” if the other side “wins” and we “lose.” This is what’s happening on many fronts. Religious freedoms versus social freedom versus legal freedom. Who first gets to chose who gets to win and who gets to lose. There are very few things that “everyone” wins on…
Those on one side of “winning” makes the other side who feel they are “losing” – and regardless of the end results – all are losers.
Listen to King David for a few moments. Life is pressuring up ….
“A David psalm. Count yourself lucky, how happy you must be– you get a fresh start, your slate’s wiped clean. Count yourself lucky– GOD holds nothing against you and you’re holding nothing back from him. When I kept it all inside, my bones turned to powder, my words became daylong groans. The pressure never let up; all the juices of my life dried up. Then I let it all out; I said, “I’ll make a clean breast of my failures to GOD.” Suddenly the pressure was gone– my guilt dissolved, my sin disappeared.” (Psalms 32:1-5 MSG)
You need a way to vent the pressure that builds up inside. That pressure cooker needs to vent! Or it will finally explode.
What is your pressure point and how will you relieve the pressure?