In June 1889, Raffaele Esposito, took some flat bread and covered it with tomatoes, mozzarella and basil leaves to represent the colors of the Italian flag. Then he put it in the oven. While eating flat bread with various toppings had been around for hundreds of years, this was the first version of the modern pizza. Esposito called it the ‘Pizza Margherita’ in honor of the queen of Savoy.
This summer, if you are visiting Rome, you can get a pizza from a new vending machine. The ‘Mr. Go Pizza’ machine allows customers to watch the dough being kneaded and toppings added before a quick bake. The whole thing takes less than three minutes. Not surprisingly, most Romans are horrified at this invention and the reviews of the pizzas have not been great.
Good quality takes time. Our human nature seems to want to rush matters. Instead of waiting for 10 or 15 minutes for a pizza, we want it in three. The cost means it just won’t be as good.
Good things take time. That applies to the development of our character and spiritual life as well. God took Jeremiah to the potter’s house to watch the potter form clay vessels. The potter took his time to make something that would last. Sometimes he needed to start over. There was no mass production of low-quality pots. The potter took time to shape each vessel.
This is good to remember when we grow impatient with one another. God hasn’t finished with shaping them or us just yet. The process of transformation takes longer than we would like. We have to graciously extend patience and kindness to others when they fail to meet our standards. We are all a work in progress and good things take time. In the end, we can rest assured that God will produce something beautiful and unique. The best work can’t be rushed.
I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him. Ecclesiastes 3:10-14