“How many licks does it take to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop?”
If you were around in the early 1970’s, you probably remember that commercial, which debuted in 1969. You may also remember that it was the lollipop of choice for Telly Savalas’ Lt. Theo Kojak in the TV crime drama series. Tootsie pops were introduced into the series on December 12, 1973 when Kojak decides to favor lollipops over cigarettes.
For those who don’t remember, the gist of the commercial was that a young boy was trying to find out how many licks were necessary to get through the hard candy shell to the chewy chocolate center by asking different animals (cow, fox, turtle, and owl). Of course, none ever made it without biting through. No one had the patience to wait that long.
Candy and TV trivia in one post! We are nothing if not eclectic! Now, to get to the point …
The point of the tootsie pop commercial was how hard it is to wait for something chocolatey and delicious. For many of us, it is hard to wait for anything. Period.
We live in a one-click, on-demand, instant-access, immediate-response culture (at least most who will be reading this do). Patiently waiting? Ha!
This morning, I read the text of a hymn written in the early 1640’s by a young German scholar named Georg Neumark. As I read through the text, I remembered, as a voice major in college, singing a J.S. Bach arrangement of one of the verses. Here are the lyrics that inspired my thoughts today:
Be patient and await His leisure in cheerful hope, with heart content To take whatever thy Father’s pleasure and His discerning love hath sent Nor doubt our inmost wants are known to Him who chose us for His own
I find great comfort and encouragement in those words and at least 3 evidences that our lives matter to God.
- No matter what we are waiting for, what we already have is the result of His pleasure and discerning love. That means that He knows best what we need at this moment and it is His pleasure to supply it.
- He knows our inmost wants, even those hopes and dreams that we are hesitant to share with anyone else. Because of His wisdom, He may not give us everything we want, but because of His love, He does not condemn our wanting.
- He chose us to belong to Him. We are His treasure. When we find our contentment in relationship to Him through Jesus, we are His pleasure.
Rather than “Be patient,” the translation I sang in college said, “Only be still.” It reminds me of Psalm 46:10: “Be still and know that I am God.”
By the way, a student study at the University of Cambridge concluded that it takes 3,481 licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop.
Right!
Question: What is truly stretching the limits of your patience right now? What might help you to be still?
Leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you.
