May 31, 2018 (Thursday)
“Variety is the spice of life,” is an old saying. It we are talking about variety in merchandising, then we are talking about many, many items.
Take breakfast cereal, for instance. In the 1930’s, grocers could display virtually all the breakfast cereals in a realitively small space. Today, not all cereals can be displayed, because there are more than 5,000 of them. Stores display as many of them as they can on one big aisle. Customers linger in that aisle, trying to make choices. (mouseover picture –>)
Variety is also available in coffee. Back in the day when all anyone wanted was a cup of 
coffee (available for a nickel in most cafes), and cheap by the pound for home brewers, the choices were few. You could brew yours in a percolator, a drip pot (dripolater) or you could just boil it and learn to avoid the grounds when drinking it. Then came “Mr. Coffee” and paper filters–a refinement of the drip method. Now there are many different ways to make coffee and there are so many different kinds of coffee drinks that many people have no idea what they are.
What about variety in automobiles? A neighbor kid and I used to stand on the corner of a busy Houston street and see who could identify the cars as they passed by. We knew all of them in 1940. Then the war came, and new cars were not produced for a while until 1946, and even then there were not many new models or manufacturers. The 1950s brought much innovation in automobile design, and since that time the choices are many whenever you get in the mood for a new car. So many brands and models.
We know there are many different kinds of cereals, coffees and cars, but what about the variety in just about everything else these days? In the old days, if you were a Christian, you no doubt identified as a Baptist, Methodist, or some other denomination. Today, the choices are not as simple. Worship can be done in a “mega church,” which during our lifetime has sprung into being and now such churches almost qualify as a denomination all their own. Let’s say you are looking in the yellow pages for a church. You find a listing for a Baptist church near you, so you give it a try. You discover that it is different in worship style than that to which you have become accustomed in other places. This is your first stop as you visit many churches, and find out that the variety typified on the grocer’s shelves, in coffee shops and on highways also exists in different churches.
One thing is certain: the past is gone. We live in a new day. The choices are many, in just about everything. We make spiritual and moral decisions every day. Let’s make sure we make the right ones. Never did we have so many vitally important choices, and never were our decisions so critical. Reminds me of a Bible verse: “Choose you this day whom ye will serve: … but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15.)