AN ADAGE A DAY- ENCOURAGEMENT
My Quest...for Clam Chowder
By Carole Gilbert
I came up with a thought for a recipe. I love the cooking shows like Chopped and how they take odd ingredients to make delicious dishes. And I enjoy trying to do this myself. I thought about taking my leftover pasta Alfredo, adding some liquid, chopped carrots and celery, and with clams I could make clam chowder. I love clam chowder and always look forward to having it when we go to the beach. But I wanted it right then. I had all the ingredients, except for the clams. And having this would make me “As happy as a clam,” as they say.
So, I began my quest. I wanted fresh or frozen, not canned. But I was soon to find out there were no fresh or frozen clams in our area and the canned ones were short in demand also. I would have to give up on my quest. I wasn’t feeling very happy about this. But then, I remembered we would soon be going to the beach. I could get my clam chowder there! And I could save my recipe for another time. Once again, I was as happy as a clam.
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​Did you know that you could be that happy? Did you even know clams were happy? This idiom, “as happy as a clam” started around 1838. In its entirety it says, as happy as a clam at high water, because high tide is when clams are their safest from being dug up for food. That’s when they are most content. It means the same for us, being most content, satisfied, or happy.
A couple of weeks later, we got to the beach and were having so much fun. The only thing I needed to make this trip perfect was a bowl of clam chowder. So, my quest began again. The first restaurant we went to didn’t have clam chowder, but they did have yummy fried oysters. I could wait until the next restaurant for my chowder.
The next evening, which was the last of our trip, we went to another one of our favorite restaurants that I knew had clam chowder. I was excited! And then, when we got there, I found out they were out of it! How could that be? They’ve always had it! I felt my happiness slipping away. I would have to settle for gumbo, shrimp or some other seafood. I was not as happy as a clam.
As I sat there eating my delicious fried shrimp and fish, with my other trimmings, I realized I was being sort of silly. Here I was, at the beach, having a great time and letting myself feel down over a bowl of soup. I thought about how happiness doesn’t really come from a bowl or any other object. Happiness comes from within. I thought about a verse where Jesus is explaining how joy or happiness comes from knowing Him.
John 15:11,
“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you,
and that your joy may be full.”
I thought about Jesus' words, and I thought about what I would want to be full of the most, clam chowder or joy from Him. It didn’t take long for me to realize what my decision already was. Of course, it was Jesus. I had found that joy within me from Him. I didn’t need anything else to make me happy. And then, after having all of this in thought, I was once again “as happy as a clam.”