Edwin Perkins is one of the greatest inventors that America has ever produced. Now I realize that his name is not mentioned in the same breath with Thomas Alva Edison or Alexander Graham Bell, but in 1927 in Hastings, Nebraska, Edwin Perkins invented something that made a lasting impact on our nation. In 1927, Edwin Perkins invented Kool-Aid. There was a liquid concentrate called “Fruit Smack” that was popular, but shipping it was expensive. So, Edwin Perkins discovered a way to remove the liquid from Fruit Smack, leaving only a powder. He named this powder, “Kool-Aid.”
My two brothers, Wayne and Rick, and I have had a life-long love affair with Kool-Aid. When we were growing up, our folks could not afford to supply us with Cokes or other soft drinks. So, mom supplied us with Kool-Aid. It satisfied our thirst and our craving for something sweet at the same time.
Some see Kool-Aid as a childish thing, but, if so, my brothers and I have never put it behind us. I keep a pitcher of grape Kool-Aid in our refrigerator and drink it for a couple of meals every day. Sometimes I drink it between meals. My brother Wayne says that if you put enough sugar in it you can drink it and work all day without eating a meal. As a concession to our advancing age and tendency to gain weight, we usually drink pre-sweetened Kool-Aid, but we feel guilty about making this sort of compromise.
One of the problems with our love for Kool-Aid is that it is an embarrassment to our wives. Danielle won’t let me drink it when we have company. She makes me drink tea. For the sake of domestic tranquility, I drink the tea, but as soon as the company leaves I go back to Kool-Aid.
Recently, my younger brother Rick looked in their refrigerator and was overjoyed to see that his wife Vera had made him a big pitcher of red Kool-Aid. It was a hot day and he was working outside so he drank the entire pitcher of Kool-Aid that afternoon. That evening Vera called from the kitchen, “Honey have you seen the mixture that I made up for the hummingbirds and left in the refrigerator?” “Hummingbird mixture?” he said. “I thought that was Kool-Aid.” No wonder he was buzzing through his work that afternoon.
Thirst is a basic instinct that God has given all of us. It is both physical and spiritual. Kool-Aid is a great physical thirst quencher, but it does nothing for the deeper thirsts of our souls. When Jesus met the woman at the well, He told her that He could give her living water so that she would never thirst again. Before the day was over, she had discovered this everlasting thirst-quencher.
The poet wrote: “I thirst, not for a cup, but for Christ./ I thirst, not for a glass, but for God.” So do we all.
I hope to visit with my brother Rick at Christmas time, but he may not be at home. He said that for some reason all that he can think about is going south for the winter.
