November 19, 2001
DOWN HOME:
Thank the Lord for balanced meals
___OK, if you're absolutely, positively stumped about what to say thanks for this week, just thank God you're not Don Gorske of Fon du Lac, Wis.
___While you're chowing down on turkey and dressing or maybe ham and sweet potatoes Thanksgiving day, Gorske will sit down to "the usual." He'll have a Big Mac. And fries with that, plus a Coca-Cola.
___Gorske will eat his 18,016th Big Mac hamburger on Thursday, according to CBS News.
___He's gobbled down at least one Big Mac every day but eight for 30 years. He missed a meal when his mom died and a few times when blizzards closed down the Fon du Lac McDonald's. The winters are hard in Wisconsin, don't you know? But don't worry about this winter; he keeps a stash in the freezer, just in case.
MARV KNOX
Editor
___If you've pulled your calculator out, you already realize a Big Mac a day for 30 years only accounts for 10,950 burgers (365 times 30, plus 8 Leap Year Feb. 29ths, minus the 8 times he's missed). But some days, one Big Mac is just enough to get a guy started.
___"I could not get enough Big Macs at first. I just loved them," he explained. "The first month, I ate 265 Big Macs." So, an additional 7,050 burgers spread out over 30 years has been no problem.
___Math students at Fon du Lac High School toted up Gorske's numbers. He's eaten enough Big Macs to consume 14 cattle, 560 pounds of cheese and 100 gallons of "special sauce."
___Now, I'm not knocking McDonald's or even hamburgers, for that matter. I've got my favorite at every joint in every town I've ever lived. (The greatest is a Frisco Burger from Gene's Tasty Burger in Wichita Falls, for which --and over which--I've given thanks many times.)
___But Don Gorske is amazing. Not because of his Guinness World Record. Not even because he chose to make his mark with McDonald's.
___He's amazing because of his immunity to masticatory monotony. Can you imagine eating the same thing every day? Sorta reminds me of the college cafeteria, but that only lasted four years, and I got holidays and summers off.
___It also reminds me of little kids, who get on a kick of eating just one food--like French fries or bananas or American cheese--over and over again. But at least they grow out of it. Gorske never plans to.
___At the very least, however, you just can't help but--what's the word here?--appreciate Gorske's single-minded devotion to Big Macs. That sets him apart in a world of choices.
___Jesus said, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me."
___What if Christians exhibited as much commitment to the spiritual food of Jesus as Don Gorske has expended upon Big Macs? We'd be setting records. Not in the Guinness Book, but in the Lamb's Book of Life.
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