No. I do not work for Dominos , nor do I deliver pizza—not even close—but I do want to speak about delivery and how it gets done better than even the pizza-delivery-mega-machine Dominos does it. Now this might reach outside your comfort zone and what you believe is the best delivery method, but stay with me, and I think you will agree.
There are 35 million pounds of potatoes grown in the United States every year. That is a lot of fries and potato chips. And when you think about it, we don’t even eat potatoes in their own right. What I mean to say is potatoes are rarely eaten alone. Flavors or butter and sour cream or ketchup are often loaded on the potato to make it more palatable. So why do we grow so many potatoes in this country? There are many reasons, but certainly one of them is taste.
Potato chips are a method of delivering flavor. That’s right. We eat potato chips to enjoy flavors. Barbecue, jalapeño, sour cream and onion, or other delicious tastes are the desired end result. Think about it. We rarely eat a plain potato chip—sour cream & chives, bacon, cheddar cheese, BBQ, or ranch—you name it. Potatoes deliver flavor. And if you’re like me, you may say that you like your fries plain and don’t need the litany of dips, ketchup, or fry sauce available, but even then most people put salt on the tasty tubular morsels… And that is just fine, because the job of a potato is to be a method of delivering wonderful flavors. We can all agree on that. And how is it doing? Is the potato chip succeeding at its job?
According to a report on the Internet, 513.5 million cwt of potatoes were grown in the United States alone in the year 2000 (cwt is a hundredweight or equal to 100 pounds). Another site estimated 42 billion pounds grown in the US. That’s a lot of potatoes per person any way you slice it. The top producer of potatoes is Idaho with 350,000 acres planted in 2012. So if there is so much effort exerted to deliver a positive experience with potatoes and deliver the flavors we crave, how much more should we be focusing on the delivery of something really important—like happiness?
Despite the large number of people interested in potatoes, a lot more are eager to attain happiness in their lives—all of us, in fact. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the method of delivering true happiness. I happen to believe that we spend too much time trying to distinguish between what is public, personal, religious, political, social, and/or ecclesiastical. It is all religious from God’s perspective, and so the answer to all of life’s challenges are found therein. Too broad of a claim? I think not. Read on.
And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it (Mosiah 2:41).
I had the opportunity to visit paradise recently. Now if you are thinking I had an out-of-body experience of sorts, I am actually talking about taking a trip to Hawaii, which is frequently referred to as paradise. Why? Admittedly, the Hawaiian Islands are appealing, but why would the Islands be referred to as paradise? That is a pretty lofty claim. Does it hold muster?
Well… I suppose it is a personal opinion, but my answer is in the affirmative. Probably, the warmth, hospitality, and beauty of the Aloha state make it a fine candidate. Flavors of Hawaii come in all sorts. The beautiful landscapes engender in the mind visions of what heaven must be like; yet even then, I have only seen a glimpse of what the islands have to offer.
With Youtube and Flickr and thousands of posts on the Internet, we can have a pretty good idea of its offerings, but even then it is not the same as being there to experience its smells, sounds, and services. They are truly incredible. Still, our lack of time and money prevent us from experiencing it all—and even if we could, we are told that our fondest imagination cannot even fathom the reward in store for those that love and serve God.
So what delivers happiness in this life? I contend that the gospel of Jesus Christ does it here and now.
We give everything we have—nothing more, nothing less. And in return, all the Father has can be ours.
Many young men today are fine examples to me. I want to be able to say what Taylor articulates so well in the video below:
“The Savior gave everything to me. He gave his life for me. And when I get back to his kingdom someday, I want to be able to look him in the eye and tell him ‘Man. I gave you everything I had. I really did. Just like you gave me everything you had… and I guess that’s where I find the drive to do those things.”
I am grateful for the opportunity to take part in the gospel of Jesus Christ and share with my family the joy and happiness that comes to those who have joined the feast. I have seen its effectiveness.
We should all strive for the real delivery that matters.
I am a witness that it does really matter.
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