Candy Theology

We were excited to find Rolos at the store recently, then disappointed when we realized that these Rolos are different. They are square. I know, I know, they are still "chocolate covered caramel from end to end," but now the other part of the commercial jingle of my childhood - "you can roll a Rolo to your friend" -  is no longer true. At least not if I am in Congo buying Rolo candy from South Africa. Rolos are supposed to look like this:

Rolo original chocolate coated caramels, as sold in the UK (September 2006) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Those little square versions can't possibly contain as much caramel, so how can they be the Rolos I remember? I guess I can consider this a little reminder that things change sometimes. Change doesn't have to be a bad thing. I'm grateful to my core that I am not the same person I was back in the early 80's when I was in middle school and astronauts were singing about Rolos on TV. (If you don't know what I am talking about, you'll have to catch the commercial on YouTube.) I'm also thankful to know that God is still working on me and years from now I will not be the same person I am today.

More has changed than the shape of the candy. Across the top of the package is a declaration that this candy has no artificial colors, flavors, or preservative. It's all real. You could joke that candy companies are more transparent than some people are, but it is partly true. My "real-down-to-earth-what-you-see-is-what-you-get" friends are gold to me. 

In my childhood, there were only about six lines to that commercial jingle, and half of them were about rolling a piece of candy to your pal, your chum, or your friend. Nevermind what our moms always told us about playing with food or eating off unclean surfaces. What kid from my generation has never tried to roll a Rolo just to see if it worked? This new packaging, though, says nothing about sharing with friends. It does say "Do you love anyone enough...to share?" I jokingly told my family I would have to think about it. To me, this is not a good change. It's a suttle switching to a more self-centered, self-indulgent marketing approach, sugar-coated in humor (pardon the pun). I've been thinking about all God has given me, physically and spiritually. Do I love anyone enough to share? It's not so hard to love some people, but do I love everyone enough to share?