The Secret Ingredient to Coke. The Mystery Solved.

Last week I was reminded of a great mystery, the secret formula of Coca-Cola. I was with my two grandsons in Atlanta, the home of the famous drink. My grandsons, Shepherd, age 8 and Leighton, age 6, Mimi, who is ageless, and I went to the World of Coca-Cola Museum. It was much more than I thought it would be. It featured aspects of the soft-drink industry that I am sure my grandsons might not have thought about, like the bottling process, the history of the product and the secret formula embedded in its very history.

The museum includes a vault where the formula is kept, an interactive area with green bottles, questions about the taste of Coke, the problem of imposters and fakes, and a 4-D Movie that builds on the "secret" theme. The guys enjoyed the bumpy ride the movie gave them and all the hype, but they weren't much interested in getting a photo with the Coca-Cola polar bear. He is big. Scary to a couple of little boys? I don't know.

It was a well spent day (actually a half-day). And afterwards we went back to the hotel so they could swim. That evening we went to an Atlanta Braves baseball game. It was late when we crawled into bed. I heard nothing about the secret coke.

Well, the next morning, it was a surprise to me, when they both simultaneously announced to me, "We know the secret Ingredient" as we were waiting for the hotel elevator. I responded, "What are you talking about?" They said, "Coke. We know the secret Ingredient." I asked, "What is it? Most of my responses to these two guys is usually "What" because they asked me at least 100 times a day, “Do you know what?" And I ask, “What?" So this was a variant on my typical "What?" I actually was able to ask, "What is it?" In near unison, they said, “A big, dead rabbit." What? I asked them again. They repeated, “A big, dead rabbit.”

It was out of the clear blue. They had somehow discussed this among themselves and agreed on a solution to the great mystery surrounding Coke. Was I ever surprised! How did these two sleuths come up with that solution? I asked, "How do you know that?" By that time the elevator doors  

popped open, there was a nice gentlemen waiting on us to enter. Three seconds into the elevator my two guys asked him, "Do you know the secret ingredient?" I had to inform the man that we had been to the Coke Museum the previous day and that these two fellas had figured out the secret formula to Coke! They quickly told him. I think he was just as dumbfounded as I was. It is no longer a secret! When you know something, it's hard to keep a secret. How is it that the folks at Coca-Cola have kept it a secret for over a hundred and twenty-five years? Oh, I guess it has something to do with profit and who it might benefit.
 

Sorry, Coke, your secret is out of the bag (NOT).

Scripture speaks of the mystery of God but, unlike Coke goes to great lengths to tell the story in ways we might understand God’s love for us. The underlying principle is simple enough, but revelation of it was complicated as it was lived out in the lives of the many characters in scripture. They were, like us, filled with a human element.

Scripture:

Luke 24.44-48 – Christ opened their minds to understand the mystery in scripture.

Ephesians 1.9 – Christ unveiled the mystery of God’s plan.

Ephesians 3. 4-5 – The mystery of God’s grace and His Messiah was revealed to His apostles and prophets.

1 Corinthians 2.13 – God reveals spiritual things to spiritual people.

Colossians 1.26 – God’s Word remained a mystery for generations but it has now revealed His saints.

Colossians 1.19-20 – God in His fullness dwelled in Christ to reconcile us to Himself.

John 20.31 – What Jesus did is written down so you might believe He is the Messiah, the Son of God.

John 3.16 – God’s Son came into the world, not to condemn it, but to show us God’s love for man, and that by believing in Him, man would be saved.

Romans 15.7-9 – Jesus came to man to confirm God’s promises and God’s truth to us.

Ephesians 2.8 – By our faith we are saved by God’s grace.

 

Kamp Keck Is Always Crazy

You will recall that we’ve hosted a camp experience for our grandchildren for the past several years. I’ve written on two of them (Jul 10, 2013 and Aug 21, 2012). This year I am re-posting Saundria’s version of what we did during the last week of July and first week of August. Her account was posted in her blog, “Pass the Bread” (http://passthebreadmom.com/) this past week. I’ve included additional photos with this posting.

Yes, Parents, They Will Need to Be Detoxed

By Saundria Keck, August 10, 2015

To be honest I am exhausted. But then I’m always exhausted as Kamp Keck comes to a close.

This year we took a different approach to camp. Week one we took our granddaughters (Hadley, age 11 and Analayne, age 10) to Washington D.C. We visited some of the Smithsonian museums as well as monuments and memorials. We enjoyed breakfast in the Hart Senate Office Building where we had our picture taken with Senator Lamar Alexander. Then one of his interns led us on a tour of The Capitol. We spent a day at Mount Vernon, home of George and Martha Washington. Oh and we must not forget the photo in front of the White House. A great week–girls’ style.

 

 

After delivering the girls to their parents, we picked up our grandsons (Shepherd, age 8 and Leighton, age 6) and headed for Atlanta, Georgia. We made a stop in Chattanooga for Julie Darlings donuts. Once in Atlanta, we visited the Lego Discovery Center, the Georgia Aquarium, and the Coca Cola Museum (a great place to get children “high” on sugar). We spent one evening watching the Atlanta Braves play the San Francisco Giants and eating junk food common to baseball parks. Braves lost, but we had a winning experience. A great week–boys’ style.

For those of you who follow our camp adventures, you might be wondering why we did camp differently this year. Well, this the last summer we will have only four grandchildren who are old enough to travel with us. By next summer we will have two more. Chad and Candace will be going to China in the near future to pick up two little boys. Most likely our new grandsons will not be ready for camp away from their parents by next summer as they will need plenty of bonding time. We as grandparents are wondering how we will do camp in 2016. Check in then to see.

Though we took the girls and the boys to different locations, there were things in common. One was swimming, lots of swimming. What would we do without hotel pools? A second was complaints about sharing a bed, but sure makes for good war stories. A third was a not-so-healthy diet. Not that I recommend this on a continuing basis, but after all it was camp and we are grandparents. Gotta cut us some slack.

   

So yes, their parents will need to detox their children from cheeseburgers, french fries, milk shakes, and M&Ms, to name a few. They will also need to detox them from over activity and too little sleep. But the one thing we pray will not need detoxing is their emotional and spiritual tanks. We tried to keep those full of goodness and love. We passed the “bread.” (John 6:35)

  

  

Scripture

Deuteronomy 6.7 – As you go, teach your children that God is good.

Deuteronomy 6. 20 – When your son or daughter asks you, you can say what the Lord has done for you.

Psalm 78.4 – Tell the next generation what God has done, His power and wonders.

Psalm 79.13 – God’s people will praise Him and from generation to generation they will recount it.

Psalm 145.4 – One generation will commend God’s works to another.

2 Timothy 1.5 – Faith can be a legacy of one generation to the next generation, if it is lived out clearly and sincerely.