The Grapefruit and The Caramel Popcorn

It's funny when certain things come to us. I don't mean just the random, everyday things like where we decide to go eat or which 'off-brand' can of corn to buy. I mean the deeper things; the things that move us closer to each other and closer to God. You know, those 'moments'.

I recently had a conversation with my friend Seth. It was one of those late night brand of talks that often can take you into the wee hours of the morning and, in fact, it did just that with us. I believe I finally walked out of his side door at approximately 1:30 am. It was a great talk. We have had many talks that have been similar to that one for the better part of 20 years, but this one has stuck with me a bit longer than many. We shared things and heard things that may have not been our own voices if you get my meaning. Granted, at one point Seth said that if I were to ever utter any of these things that he and I were saying in a church, we would perhaps be burned at the stake and maybe he was right. But the one thing I will mention, without fear of being Bar-b-cued on the fine piece of wood that is our modern day church, is that God is still speaking and God is still moving.

Duh! You might be saying. Well, when I say God is still speaking, I think He is still speaking in the same ways that He spoke to Paul, John, Peter, etc. No, I'm not going to write an epistle but I do believe that the God I worship has not remained silent-I think we have grown deaf. I'm going to leave this alone for now, but I want you to think about a God that still moves and still speaks. Perhaps I'll finish this thought another day. Now, on to the Grapefruit and the Caramel Popcorn...

I've been reading a book of letters that CS Lewis wrote to various people throughout his amazing life. In reading these letters, those that have read any of his books can see where much of his writings (in a professional way) came from and the inspirations behind those writings. It has been a great read and I would encourage you to pick up a copy (Yours, Jack).

The other night I was called to work a yard job from 2300 (that's 11pm for you 9-5 folks) until whenever... turned out to be about 6am. We finished up the majority of our switching and the guy I was working with, and myself were sitting in the crew room eating our 'lunches'. I was reading a letter that CS Lewis wrote to his lifelong friend, Arthur Greeves. It covered many things but the bulk of the letter was about 'evil' and whether or not it could exist along side the 'goodness' of God. I won't do it justice, but I will pick out 'part' of what he says regarding how God uses evil, or better said, how we try to use evil to 'fill holes' that only God can fill with perfect good.

"Therefore God does really in a sense contain evil--i.e. contains what is the real motive power behind all our evil desires. He knows what we want, even in our vilest acts: He is longing to give it to us. He is not looking on from the outside at some new 'taste' or 'separate desire of our own'. Only because he has laid up real goods for us to desire are we able to go wrong by snatching them in greedy, misdirected ways. The truth is that evil is not a real thing at all, like God. It is simply good spoiled. That is why I say there can be good without evil, but no evil without good..... Evil is a parasite. It is there only because good is there for it to spoil and confuse."

Now, as I read these words I tried to take it in. 'Is Lewis saying that evil isn't real'? 'Is he saying that God created evil to show us how flawed we are?' But I think I made it too complicated and then something helped me formulate an analogy. Good is to Grapefruit as evil is to Carmel Popcorn. Surely you are asking why I chose these foods. Well, as I mentioned I was at work and my co-worker and I were killing some time and decided it was a good moment to take in some nourishment. I will give you 10 guess as to which one of us had the Grapefruit and the first 9 guesses don't count. That's correct, I DID NOT have a Grapefruit. I'm pretty sure that it is a fruit that is soon to be banned for public consumption. But I kid you not just as I read the words, 'It is simply good spoiled' I thought, 'Ah crap! I'm eating evil!'.

You see both of us had a desire for something good. Both of us were hungry. Both of us resorted to seeking out a product to fill this 'need' that we were experiencing at that moment. Both of our intentions were right and noble: God made us creatures that need food and we were simply following our Lord's design by seeking food. My co-worker chose a very 'good' source of food. There is no doubt of the healthiness and the out right juicy wonderment that is a grapefruit... it is, as God would say, Goooood. And then there's me. And my popcorn. A really freaking big bag of popcorn I might add. It was a 'Dillons card' purchase of $1.99. It was cheap, it was easy and it was coated in a sugary potion that seemed to force my right hand to continually enter it and withdraw these little bites of hell. As I looked at my sad, bag of corny goodness I felt bad because did it know that is was simply 'good spoiled'?

I know there are some really horrific things that happen to us and to people throughout the world. It's a much bigger situation than to simply quantify one side as 'Grapefruits' and the other side as 'Carmel Corn'. But in this analogy lies a truth: sometimes we really have the intentions of doing right but simply choose the wrong avenues to travel and the wrong materials to help fill our 'God-shaped' voids. We aren't necessarily bad people, but sometimes that is how evil works it's greatest power--in making 'good people' choose 'spoiled things'. It may be in what we wear, what we eat, what we drink, what we watch, etc. Sometimes we simply aren't being all that we were made to be because we are 'settling' for what's cheap and easy and tastes ooooooh so yummy.

There are Grapefruits and there are bags of Caramel Corn--both aimed at filling a need, but giving very different results.... choose wisely.