I loved the way my dad’s Delta 98 smelled on Sunday afternoons; especially when we drove to Baskin Robbins. It made my sisters and me giddy. Mom always ordered a double dip on a sugar cone. Her favorite flavors: Licorice and Pumpkin. It seemed like an odd mix of flavors. I ordered Mint Chocolate Chip. Butter Pecan was my dad’s favorite. My youngest sister loved Bubble Gum or Blue Moon. I think one of my sisters ordered Vanilla. I couldn’t understand why anyone would order Vanilla. We were at Baskin Robbins…they have 31 Flavors, why get Vanilla?
That was the beauty of Baskin Robbins; you could taste whatever flavor suits you. Today it’s Cold Stone and flavor overload. There is something wonderful about flavor; about variety.
Ice cream has basic ingredients – milk, sugar, maybe an egg and a few other necessities. The thing that gives ice cream its desirability is the flavor. Flavor is everything. If you love Rocky Road; orange sherbet won’t do it for you. I guess some people like Orange Sherbet, but I’ll bet Cookies and Cream or Cookie Dough is a better seller.
Can you imagine Sauerkraut flavored ice cream? How about Hash Brown ice cream? It sounds disgusting, doesn’t it? Some flavors were never meant to be in ice cream.
I’ve noticed that people have a flavor. Some people are sweet; some are spicy. Certain people seem to have an aroma that makes them desirable; while others smell a lot like Sauerkraut. Certain flavors make your mouth water. The smell of coffee can send you to a happy place. Lemon makes you pucker. Jalapeño sets your mouth on fire. Chocolate – well, need we say more?
It’s really quite amazing – the power of flavor. Who wants bland, clear flavor? What flavor are you? What flavor is your faith? Flavorless food; like flavorless people are just, well a non-factor; ignored, bland, tasteless. Bitter flavor ruins every meal. Sweet flavors make even the worst meal eatable. I think it’s our responsibility to be flavorful. If we have a boring, vanilla, “it’s all about me,” kind-of-a-drag, flavorless personality, it’s time to get some extract! Add a few drops and get some flavor. How does our brand of Christianity taste to those around us? Vinaigrette? Creamy? Sweet? Bitter?
As long as the basic ingredients, the required ingredients are there, it’s okay to be whatever flavor you like. In the Christian world, there are all kinds of flavors: the activitist, the evangelist, the light, the server, the giver, the knowledge accumulater, the welfare provider, the worshipper, the pray-er, the missionary, the rocker, the Hammond B3 organ lover, the stoic, the charismatic, the introvert, the extrovert, the feed the poor, teach the children, love the teens – all flavors.
We have an aroma, a flavor. Have we taken time to taste the flavor of others? Have we huddled together with those flavored just like us? Have we considered getting a new flavor?
Beth
