This morning I poured a delicious bowl of Cinnamon Crunch Squares. Yep. I said it correctly. It’s a knockoff Aldi brand for the ever popular, game-changing Cinnamon Toast Crunch. As I was taking in bite by bite, realizing the taste is identical for half the price, I was struck by a disturbing thought.
In my life and ministry and walk with Jesus, I don’t want to simply create Cinnamon Crunch Squares. What do I mean by that? In order to create Cinnamon Crunch Squres, you don’t need to be innovative. You just have to copy. You look at Cinnamon Toast Crunch, mimic the recipe, switch the words around, create an imitation logo, and there you have it.
It’s doing what someone else has already done.
Here’s what I’m thinking:
- In my walk with Jesus, I don’t want to just apply and mimic someone else’s experience with God. I want to have a personal encounter with Jesus.
- In my ministry I don’t want to just mimic what other churches and ministries are doing. I want to catch God’s heart for my people, my areas.
It is possible to be in ministry but never pray. You just copy. It is possible to “walk with Jesus” but never read His Word for yourself, just the latest books.
I’m not against resources and learning from others. Matter of fact, if you think you don’t need others, that’s another problem.
But what about you? Are you living a secondhand faith, copying what’s happening around you but not seeking God for yourself?
Are you creating Cinnamon Crunch Squares?
Thank you for supporting such a unique opinion and further simplifying it in terms that can be approachable by all. My son showed me this article and was baffled by the connection between faith and cinnamon toast crunch, with the sweet general mills treat being his favorite cereal, and upon first trying to absorb this opinion i will admit i was a little disturbed myself. Where is the connection between ones faith and such a benign breakfast option, how would Jesus compare walking the true path to consuming grains sugars and milk, why must our personal faith be unique when we receive instruction and guidance through our lords messengers on land, our beloved Priests and most confusing of all how would one replicate such a copyrighted sugary secret? I took these questions and many more to one of our local church deacons, being from a small community in Tennessee and engaged in a much enlightening hour long debate of the meaning of our faith how cinnamon toast crunch can help us all walk closer to our lord. Sam, our communities deacon, expressed concerns about how one would be able to get past the patents, lawyers and legal safegaurds, the processing secrets and cereal worker union enforcer squads that General Mills spends millions on to safeguard each year, being that General Mills owns the monopoly on cinnnamon toast crunch and all related products. Not even broaching the fact that the factories that such a product is produced at utilize such specialized machines and highly trained operators, perfecting and financing hours of training, the costs of the ingredients chemical and mechanical engineers, flavor scientists, double blind taste testing studies conducted for each unique batch of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, storage of said breakfast byproduct till the perfect aging has been achieved and finally the entire process of filling each districts specific demand in a timely fashion so that when it arrives on shelves it is exactly how it is intended to be tasted and enjoyed. The most troubling thing he said though is why should we disregard what someone else is trying to teach us about having a righteous and just relationship with The Lord, “to not make cinnamon toast crunch” when where we are having this revelation about being unique and special is told to us from someone who is telling us of his relationship with god. Isn’t that hypocritical? or in the very least redundant making the aforementions question redundant in itself? or is there more to this philosophy of cinnamon toast crunch and our religion. upon leaving coffee with sam, feeling more confused and distraught than when we started so i decided to go over his head, to our cities main spiritual authority, Father Richard Mann. And with him being such a proactive member of our faith and community it was no lesss than a day later that i found myself at the same coffee shop in the presence of Dick. I told him about the article, about my son and his questions, my conversation with Sam and what i thought of the delicious alternative to a nutritional breakfast. Dick listened silently as the broiling mass of questions spilled over my lips and onto the table, some questions and trains of thought that almost felt sacrilegious in repeating and as he acknowledged each concern without judgement or condemnation for such ignorance on my part i felt that uncertainty start to lighten. Just the concern that was plastered all over his face as i voiced my doubts and hidden insecurities that arise when faith clashes with modern science, such a powerful absolute science that can produce the miracle of cinnamon toast crunch i discovered that deep down i believed in a stronger power. More absolute and decisive and giving and loving than any one box of cereal could ever be. More forgiving and understanding than just one flavor of cereal, a power that caters to all types of peoples preferences and desires for what they would like their world to be like. I understand now that each person must derive there own favorite flavor and it may not always be cinnamon toast crunch but regardless of that General Mills always provides an alternative if one is needed. Whether it be fruity pebbles, frosted mini wheats, cookie crisps, honey bunches of oats, reeses puffs or captain crunch, there are a thousand uniquely tailored paths that allow us to start each morning righteously and pure protected from satan and his forbidden fruit mixed with oatmeal. Never has an individual that consumes breakfast, which is over half of earths population, needed to stray from this section in the grocery store if they want to start off their day and every day afterwards on the right foot. I realized if i walk hand in hand with General Mills i will never stumble on the path towards enlightenment and obtain the sweet prize inside of each box, a secured place in heaven where at our lords breakfast table their is always and only Genral Mills. I would love to hear your opinion on General Mills breakfast opportunities and which one you would endorse for the best connection to God’s teachings, thank you for your time and effort with the blog and for taking time out of your day to guide my personal and families devotion.
Sincerely, Kelsey Walsh