One of the most talked about topics recently when it comes to inflation is EGGS!
Everywhere you go you hear people talking about how expensive they are. Which, to be fair, is true. They are getting to be expensive that households that consume a lot of eggs are talking about getting chickens to satisfy their egg needs. They think it would be cheaper. I personally have always lived a fairly nice suburban middle-income-people lifestyle and have 1) not really considered the price of eggs, but more importantly for this blog 2) never had to think about getting eggs direct from chickens. So when some people were talking recently about leaving eggs out on the counter and not in the refrigerator, I was very confused. One of the few things I know about eggs is how bad they smell when they go bad because you left them out.
It turns out, before a hen lays an egg, her body creates a protective layer called the "bloom" over the shell. Each egg has 6,000-8,000 pores, and the bloom protects the egg from any bacteria getting inside by sealing them.
Large commercial egg producers wash their eggs, removing the “bloom”. This leaves it at risk for new bacteria. To combat this, they spray their eggs with a chemical sanitizer before they package them. Even with the sanitizer, without that protective layer, it's recommended that you refrigerate washed eggs at a temperature around 45 degrees to prevent any bacteria growth.
If eggs are left unwashed with the bloom intact, you can place them on your kitchen counter. Unwashed, room temperature eggs should keep for about two weeks. If you want your eggs to last a little longer, you can refrigerate unwashed eggs and they can stay good for up to three months.
When I look at an egg, I can’t tell whether it has a bloom protecting it or whether it has been washed. The same is true about people, some of us have a layer of protection from our creator that is unseen. That layer of protection comes from baptism. In 1 Corinthians Paul says, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”
None of us can look at a person and physically see anything different about someone who is baptized versus not. Although we do not see it, in baptism we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and all of the goodness that comes with it. St. Peter calls us to receive this gift in the book of Acts, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him.” (Acts 2: 38-39)
Baptism is such a beautiful gift that either our parents gave to us as children or that we chose for ourselves as adults. We should celebrate this protection we are given and that the Holy Spirit is continuing to work in our lives thanks to this grace. If you are able to, find out the date of your baptism and celebrate it like you would your birthday with a cake and a nice meal with family or friends. I have mine on my calendar. Although we cannot see this layer of protection, hopefully it changes our actions, just like we change how we treat unwashed eggs. Live your life knowing that you have this unforeseen protection and this invisible grace. Live your life so that everyone knows that you are a baptized Christian even if there is no visible marking to separate you from those who are not.
