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Aunt Jemima, Colonel Sanders, the Hi-C Punch Guy, and God.
You can hardly buy anything without seeing some advertisement on the packaging that proclaims the food inside to be better than all the alternatives. Either the fat content is lower, or the flavor zingier or the sodium lower — every label attempts to either tempt or guilt us into purchasing. Simply putting the phrase “new and improved” on packaging drives up sales ... for a while. Eventually, consumers move on to another, virtually identical “new and improved” product, which means the packaging on the original product has to be redesigned yet again. It’s a never-ending process.
There are a few vendors out there who haven’t changed their packaging much since the product was introduced. Minor cosmetic updates to advertising icons like Aunt Jemima, Colonel Sanders and the Hi-C Punch Guy were all those companies considered necessary, because they recognized the danger in abandoning the symbols by which consumers recognized their products.
Stability matters; when people become ill or have an emotional down-time, they tend to buy comfort foods that haven’t been altered since they first learned to enjoy them. New and improved is exciting, but excitement is a momentary satisfaction; to be able to reach out for something unchanging is necessary for a grounded life.
So, the next time you hear a sermon that tells you nothing new, recall a Bible account that is the same old story, or the Bible class leader asks you to page to that one Bible passage again … or the next time you sing that familiar liturgical song or Psalm, say the Apostles’ Creed or Lord’s Prayer, or help the kids memorize the same Bible passages you’ve known for years, then think how stability is better than novelty.
Save novelty for your computer gadgets, fashion jeans, and cup of Starbucks. God has something better.
PRAYER: Dear faithful God, sometimes I get a little bored, I confess, with the same old stuff that I hear and think and sing and pray and read. I know that your mercies are new every morning and that you package your love and care in many colors for me to enjoy. Today, help me to remember that you also love me and care for me with a familiarity that is meant to comfort me, and a stability that offers no unexpected twists or turns. Amen.