Bug-sicles

I read an article this week that stated the FDA is considering a ban on a dye that is used in the making of red lipstick (That’s OK I told myself, I rarely wear red lipstick), red yogurt (I think I’ll miss the lipstick more than the yogurt. The way I do math, Yogurt = Yucky!), and red popsicles (Noooooo! Now, you’ve gone too far FDA! Why couldn’t it have been the dye used in making Orange popsicles? Who likes orange popsicles? Nobody! Red, as everyone knows, is the favorite popsicle of the people of the world. ).

The red dye in question is called carmine, and is made from the dried and crushed up body of a beetle. You read that right. Crushed bugs are in my popsicles (and lipstick and yogurt and other things I am sure). I do not know what beetle (hopefully not Paul or Ringo), still the notion that I’ve been lapping up crushed beetle parts with each lick of my red popsicle is a little unsettling. I thought I was eating a popsicle when all along it was a “bug-sicle”! Yuck!

I’ve eaten a lot of popsicles down through the years. Hundreds, maybe thousands of popsicles—and I usually ate the red ones first. It is impossible to know how many crushed up beetles I have consumed, but I fear the number is higher than the population of a small country. Excuse me while I barf.

And now, because of some reported cases of hives, sickness and otherwise bad happenings, the good people at the Food and Drug Administration are coming to the conclusion that eating dead, dried, beetle parts might not be the most healthy choice. Karla has wanted me to cut down on gluten intake and eat more salads, wait until she hears about the beetle gut popsicles I’ve been consuming for the last 45 years! Good bye popsicles!

You hear all the time about people finding gross things in their food. I have friends who have found among other things: mice parts in a dinner roll (yuck), ants in newly opened cheese popcorn (double yuck), a grasshopper in a can of green beans (triple yuck) and a tooth in a burrito (OK, that’s it… I’m making myself sick!) I guess the lesson through all of this “Oh be careful little mouth what you eat.”

You want to know what’s even grosser? (I know “grosser” isn’t a word, but in discussing the disgusting things that people have digested, I think it should be.) I’ve known people who have grossly and willingly fed their mind with even worse garbage. They have fed their brains a heaping helping of pornography and thought, “what does it hurt?” They’ve filled their head with disturbing angry music and reasoned, “It’s only music.” They’ve believed the anything but God lies of a science community and thought “Kind of makes sense.”

The Bible gives this simple instruction: “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8) In other words, feed your minds with things that will lift you up and lighten your load and help your day and illuminate the truth. Fill your head with those things that will draw you closer to God and you’ll be feeding your soul with spiritual filet mignon But fill your mind with the trash our society so frequently offers and be ready for something far worse than a case of hives caused from eating a red Bug-sicle.