Everyone likes corn. Golden, simple, and quietly abundant, corn has a way of showing up where people gather: in soups and stews, tucked into tortillas, scattered in salads, and steaming on the grill. It is one of nature’s everyday gifts, nourishing body and spirit, one sweet kernel at a time.

The United States grows more corn than any other country, with endless fields stretching across the Midwest. As Bishop Fulton J. Sheen reflected, “Nature gives man corn but he must grind it. God gives man a will but he must make the right choices.” The “right choice” about corn is generous. More than food on the table, corn feeds cattle, chickens, and hogs, sweetens soft drinks, and appears in cereals, cosmetics, cornstarch, plastics, and crayons. It is a steady partner in thousands of everyday creations.

Known as maize throughout the world, corn has deep roots in story and spirit. First cultivated over 7,000 years ago, corn was considered divine in many cultures. According to Indian legend, it was the food of the gods that helped shape the earth. Aztec farmers honored Cinteotl, the god of corn, from planting to harvest, knowing that each green shoot was a small miracle.

Corn also helped write the story of the New World. With the guidance and generosity of Native peoples, corn became the “miracle food” that saw the early Pilgrims through their first winter and became part of the tradition of Thanksgiving. As New Mexico teacher George Dickerson explained, the story of the New World is, in many ways, the story of corn. It still anchors modern agriculture in the United States, growing in strong, even rows that speak of patience, work, and growth.

Everyone welcomes a slice of warm cornbread or corn on the cob fresh off the grill, brushed with butter and sprinkled with a little salt. And from Minnesota storyteller Garrison Keillor comes this smile of a line: “Sex is good, but not as good as fresh sweet corn.” Some joys are simple, honest, and right in front of us.