Would you expect to read a story about a Christian entrepreneur who credits God with her ingenious idea to show up in The New York Times? Perhaps not, but that’s what happened a couple of weeks ago in a lengthy article written by Jack Hitt.
Mary Hunter, age seventy-three, is an accomplished cook who, for years, has served meals at her home congregation, the Yes Lord Church in Gary, Indiana. “I don’t have a cookbook,” she claims. “God gives me my own.” Prayer is “where I get 99 percent of my recipes.”
After nineteen years of product development, Mary’s Marinating Stick (above) is ready to hit the market.Photo courtesy of Eccentric Voyager Web Design and Development
Unfortunately, Hunter suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure, and her condition compelled her to cut out most salt and cook her food much more blandly. But “one day, God had an idea” – yes, that’s how the Times puts it. This divine idea may make Hunter a wealthy woman. In a sort of vision, she felt God telling her:
[Take an] ink pen and stick holes all through it and put a clip on one side so that you can open it…and then put your onions and your garlic and your aromatics down the middle and put it inside your meat – then, you won’t have to eat bland foods.
Apparently for almost two centuries chefs have tried but failed to invent something better than juice injectors – which create weird pockets of liquid without really permeating thick cuts of meat with seasoned tastiness. Mary Hunter did it, and her vision led to a patentable product.
But bringing it to market was no instantaneous miracle. She had her idea way back in 1994. After many fits and starts which included taking out a second mortgage, her invention has just hit the markets. You can now buy two Mary’s Marinating Sticks at Target for twenty dollars.
Every act of entrepreneurial creativity hints at the truth that human beings are created in the image of the creative God. Some such acts may even be the direct result of divine illumination. In Mary Hunter’s case, we see both.
Editor’s note: This post is the first in our “news and views” category, a series of shorter posts that will comment on issues relating to faith, work, and economics in the news throughout the day. We will continue to publish our longer posts on a daily basis.
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