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Sermon - 03-20-2016 - Trampled by donkeys
PALM SUNDAY 2016 LUKE 19:28-40
April 23 is a famous day. For one, it’s Shakespeare’s birthday. For another, it’s St George’s Day, so if you’re English April 23 is a day to celebrate. But, thousands of miles west of England, April 23 1985 was a momentous, historic, even world-changing day for less joyous reason. Not a day of celebration, but of dismay; not of glory but of ugliness; not of jubilation but of catastrophe. April 23 1985. If you were alive that day, what were you doing? Where were you enjoying that beautiful spring morning, what daffodils were you picking, what blossoms were you sniffing, what birdsong were you enjoying? I hope you were oblivious to the pain caused by that day. I hope the agony did not trouble you or the despair come near your door. Because April 23 1985 will long live in the archives of infamy. They say it was Roberto Goizueta’s fault. It was he, they said, who unleashed this new horror onto an undeserving world. How could he do it, why would he do it? Was it the money, was it the power, was it the greedy human impulse to brook no rivals, to crush all opponents?
I don’t know. But one thing is certain. When Roberto Goizueta, the CEO of the CocaCola Company, sipped a glass of New Coke at its launch on April 23 1985, it spelled the end of the world for a legion of fans of the Real Thing. According to Wikipedia, many southerners, who considered Coke a vital part of their regional identity, viewed the change of formula through the lens of the Civil War, and as a surrender to the Yankees. The company received over 400,000 calls and letters including one delivered to Goizueta, that was addressed “to the Chief Dodo, The Coca-Cola Company". Another letter asked for his autograph, as the signature of "one of the dumbest executives in American business history". The company hotline received over 1,500 calls a day. Coke hired a psychiatrist to listen in on these calls, and after listening to a few they told executives that some callers were talking as if they were discussing the death of afamily member. Even Fidel Castro, apparently a longtime fan, called New Coke a sign of American capitalist decadence.
Isn’t it strange, the choices people make. A better one was the..... (Read the full Sermon here: Trampled by donkeys.pdf )
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By The Rev. Dr. Duncan H. Johnston, RectorPALM SUNDAY 2016 LUKE 19:28-40
April 23 is a famous day. For one, it’s Shakespeare’s birthday. For another, it’s St George’s Day, so if you’re English April 23 is a day to celebrate. But, thousands of miles west of England, April 23 1985 was a momentous, historic, even world-changing day for less joyous reason. Not a day of celebration, but of dismay; not of glory but of ugliness; not of jubilation but of catastrophe. April 23 1985. If you were alive that day, what were you doing? Where were you enjoying that beautiful spring morning, what daffodils were you picking, what blossoms were you sniffing, what birdsong were you enjoying? I hope you were oblivious to the pain caused by that day. I hope the agony did not trouble you or the despair come near your door. Because April 23 1985 will long live in the archives of infamy. They say it was Roberto Goizueta’s fault. It was he, they said, who unleashed this new horror onto an undeserving world. How could he do it, why would he do it? Was it the money, was it the power, was it the greedy human impulse to brook no rivals, to crush all opponents?
I don’t know. But one thing is certain. When Roberto Goizueta, the CEO of the CocaCola Company, sipped a glass of New Coke at its launch on April 23 1985, it spelled the end of the world for a legion of fans of the Real Thing. According to Wikipedia, many southerners, who considered Coke a vital part of their regional identity, viewed the change of formula through the lens of the Civil War, and as a surrender to the Yankees. The company received over 400,000 calls and letters including one delivered to Goizueta, that was addressed “to the Chief Dodo, The Coca-Cola Company". Another letter asked for his autograph, as the signature of "one of the dumbest executives in American business history". The company hotline received over 1,500 calls a day. Coke hired a psychiatrist to listen in on these calls, and after listening to a few they told executives that some callers were talking as if they were discussing the death of afamily member. Even Fidel Castro, apparently a longtime fan, called New Coke a sign of American capitalist decadence.
Isn’t it strange, the choices people make. A better one was the..... (Read the full Sermon here: Trampled by donkeys.pdf )