Even if all the things that people prayed for happened – which they do not – this would not prove what Christians mean by the efficacy of prayer. For prayer is request. The essence of request, as distinct from compulsion, is that it may or may not be granted. And if an infinitely wise Being listens to the requests of finite and foolish creatures, of course He will sometimes grant and sometimes refuse them. Invariable "success" in prayer would not prove the Christian doctrine at all. It would prove something more like magic – a power in certain human beings to control, or compel, the course of nature.

C.S. Lewis

CATEGORY	CUISINE	TAG	YIELD
Dairy		Soup	6	Servings

INGREDIENTS

1	c	Dried black-eyed peas
2	c	Boiling water
4	c	Cold water
3/4	ts	Salt
		Pepper to taste
6	sl	Bacon
		Lemon slices
1/2	c	Cream; whipped (optional)
		Ground nutmeg (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

Wash peas. Pour boiling water over them and soak for 6 hours or overnight.
Add the cold water, salt, pepper, and 1 slice bacon. Bring to a boil,
cover, and simmer for 2 hours. Mash peas to a smooth paste (a blender is
fine for this), and heat with the liquid to the boiling point. Cook 5
slices of bacon until crisp, and crumble in the bottom of soup bowls. Add a
very thin slice of lemon to each bowl. Fill bowls with soup, float a
spoonful of whipped cream on top of each and sprinkle with nutmeg. Yield: 6
to 8 servings.
SOAK BEANS OVERNIGHT
From <The Progressive Farmer's Southern Country Cookbook>, by the editors
of the 'Progressive Farmer Magazine'.  Downloaded from Glen's MM Recipe
Archive, http://www.erols.com/hosey.

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