Scrapple or Scruples?

SCRAPPLE or SCRUPLES?

Amish Country has Beautiful Simplicity

We were on vacation in Amish country when I decided to try scrapple. I like to try new things, so I asked the waitress to describe it. After her explanation I placed my order.

I discovered that although I like the ingredients in scrapple, I do NOT like them together. It’s been years since that experience, but I never forgot it.

I struggled to give myself permission to leave the scrapple mostly untouched. You can understand my dilemma if you were trained as a child, like I was, to always clean my plate!

If you are unfamiliar with scrapple, it’s a frugal way to use leftovers. I’ve seen it described as a mush made from pork scraps, cornmeal, wheat or buckwheat flour and spices. Sometimes it’s cooked, cooled and sliced, but my order reminded me of hash.

As I was thinking of scrapple the word scruples popped into my head. I liked the alliteration, so I stopped to think about it.   

Just as not everyone likes scrapple, some people ignore scruples. 

While growing up we get a mixture of scruples from parents, teachers, and religious leaders. It’s a mushy mixture of moral training from which we must select parts to become our own.

People with scruples care about right and wrong. If they have qualms, misgivings or uneasiness about something they generally choose to avoid it.

The value of that is described in Proverbs 2:11: Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you (NIV). The New Living Translation puts it this way: Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe.

Feel free to avoid scrapple, if you want to, but do NOT forget to pay attention to your scruples.