No Soup for you!

I love Campbell’s Condensed Fiesta Chili Beef Soup. Even the name sounds fun, doesn’t it? It’s “Fiesta” Chili Beef soup. How many other soups have a celebration right in their name? You don’t eat “Yippee Yahoo” Beef Barley or “Zippity Doo Dah” Chicken Noodle. But with Campbell’s Condensed Chili Beef there’s a fiesta in every can!

I have always loved Campbell’s Condensed Fiesta Chili Beef Soup. I think my mother put Fiesta Chili Beef Soup in my bottle as an infant. Sometimes, my dear sweet mother would place a Ball Park Frank or two into the soup and thereby creating an all-in-one yummy meal. Hot dogs and chili, what a treat! I remember making this soup in a “hot pot” in my dorm room while in college, even though there were rules about cooking in our rooms. I thought Campbell’s Condensed Fiesta Chili Beef Soup was worth being labeled a rebellious, rule breaker, and worth any fine the Resident Assistants might levy on me if they discovered me and my “hot-pot.” (Typically if a college student is fined for having “hot pot,” it does not involve a cooking apparatus, as it did for me). Even after getting married, when Karla would go away for the weekend, she knew that the pantry could be without fruits and vegetables, but it absolutely needed to include at least one can of Campbell’s Condensed Fiesta Chili Beef Soup. Yes, I love that soup.

Or I should have written: I “loved” it. After weeks of not seeing it on the super market shelves, I was coming to the realization that something was seriously wrong. Week after week, I would run into the grocery store hoping, praying that Campbell’s Condensed Fiesta Chili Beef Soup would be on the shelf, and weekly I was disappointed as I discovered that (to quote the “Soup Nazi” from the old Seinfeld show) there was “No soup for me.” It was not at HyVee, Dillions, Price Chopper, Wal-Mart or Hen House. It was not in any store.

What happened to my beloved Campbell’s Condensed Fiesta Chili Beef Soup? Were the Campbell’s Soup Chefs on strike? Was there a drought in some third-world country making it impossible to produce beans or beef or some other vital ingredient in my Campbell’s Condensed Fiesta Chili Beef Soup? I had to know: Where’s my soup? So this week I wrote to the Campbell’s Soup Company. I politely asked them where my soup was. I told them I had been eating it for years and years (I did not tell them about my mama putting it into my baby bottle.). I reminded them I had been a loyal customer. I told them how I could not find my tasty soup in any store throughout the Kansas City metro area.

Here was their reply:

Mr. Rob Prince, we received your message and appreciate your taking the time to contact Campbell Soup Company to inquire about our Campbell's Condensed Fiesta Chili Beef Soup. Unfortunately, this product is not currently available.
Tastes and preferences constantly change and there is only so much space on a supermarket shelf. Periodically, we look at the sales for our various products and are forced to make the difficult decision as to which products stay and which must be replaced.
Inquiries such as yours remind us that sales figures aren't the only measure of a product's value. Perhaps one day Campbell's Condensed Fiesta Chili Beef Soup will make its way back to your grocer's shelf.

Nooooooooo! This was the worst possible news!

“Not currently available…?”
“Forced to make difficult decisions…?”
“Periodically, we look at the sales….?”

Ah ha! Corporate greed has taken away my dearly loved Campbell’s Condensed Fiesta Chili Beef! First the M & M Candy Company stopped making Red M & M’s and now this! Oh sure there may be more Chicken Noodle Lovers and Tomato Soup lovers, but do the powers-that-be in the hallowed kitchens of Campbell’s Soup really expect me to believe that there are more people that like Split Pea Soup or Cream of Asparagus Soup than Campbell’s Condensed Fiesta Chili Beef Soup? “Only so much space on a supermarket shelf?” Are you kidding me? The grocers seem to have space for lima beans and pig’s feet and other gross things, surely the good folks at Price Chopper can make room for my tasty Campbell’s Condensed Fiesta Chili Beef Soup! (And don’t even get me started on how super markets seem to have plenty of space for Pabst Blue Ribbon and Budweiser).

What is a hungry pastor to do?

Just before my mind started devising schemes and insane plots to kidnap those lil’ “Mmmm Mmmm Good” Campbell’s Soup twins (I’m telling you I was desperate), the Lord reminded me of Jesus’ words: 'People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.' (Matthew 4:4) I know Jesus doesn’t mention Campbell’s Condensed Fiesta Chili Beef Soup by name in that verse (I think it would have been very confusing—and may have made the people in the first century a little jealous—to hear about such a tasty soup that wouldn’t be created for 1900 years) but the same principle applies: “Get your mind off your tummy and onto the things of God.”

You know that’s not a bad lesson. In fact, that’s the point of this Lenten season. That’s why we fast or give up something like burgers or chocolate or TV as we approach Holy Week. It’s to get our mind off of the things of this world, and on to the things of God. There’s still time to do just that. As we make our way toward Holy Week and Easter, make time to think about the things of God. Seek him. Seek His direction for your future, your family and all your ways. And of this you can be sure: Finding God’s favor is even better than finding a can of Campbell’s Condensed Fiesta Chili Beef Soup on a supermarket shelf. David was absolutely right when he wrote: “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8) How true it is!