The Unopened Bottles of Coca-Cola

I’d like to share an event from my childhood. In the late 70s my family had just moved into a new house. Mom decided to throw a little house warming party. So she invited several friends. We had only been in Georgia a few years and most of the family friends were from church. Mom set out a few drink options on the table. Basically it was about six 2-liter bottles of Coke, Diet Coke and Sprite. Well the party had been going for about half an hour and the Sprite was completely gone already and none of the caffeinated drinks had even been opened. Mom preceded to publicly pour herself a tall Coke. She took a drink and then looked at the other guests and said, “I’ve seen every one of you drink Coke before, just not in front of each other. Now I expect you to help me finish these.” Coke has never been explicitly forbidden by Mormon teachings but some people interpret it that way. Fine. If you want to stay away from caffeine, you’ll get no objection from me. What mom was calling out was the false piety. Doing one thing in private and putting on a different face in public. In the past year I have gotten several private emails and messages about stuff I have posted on my blog and on Facebook. Emails saying that many of my readers are having quite similar struggles in their lives. I’m glad my rabblings have been able to help you. Now I’d never think of publicly calling anybody out the way my mom did. These are much more important issues than how you interpret Doctrine & Covenants section 89. But I would like you all to know that you are not alone. Although publicly you may not feel able to comment on my blog or Facebook posts, there are quite a few of you who feel the same. So if you wanna sit down and have a Coke sometime feel free to contact me. Don’t let the unopened bottles on the table make you feel like you are the only Coke drinker in the crowd. And your secret is safe with me.