Take a moment to think of the last time you held or saw a soda can. You probably didn't think too much about it; you bought it, drank it, and threw it away. That was the way I always thought, too- until a couple of months ago. I had just pulled into the parking lot of Wal-mart, gotten out of my car and begun to walk toward the store. There it was- an empty, half-crushed soda can laying about four feet from the trash can. Now, I'm not really sure if this was from God, or just bad mexican, but I started thinking about the life that that soda can must have had. Those thoughts came together to form “The Testimony of the Soda Can.”
Months later, a man, who happened to have a paradoxical structure (being large in the sense that lifting large amounts was easy, but also large in the sense that he looked like he might pass out from over-exertion) found himself in front of a package of newly-made soda cans wizzing down the ramp. In this package, the sodas were whooping and hollering, as today was the beginning of their life-journeys and the first step to fulfilling their purposes.
The tires came to a screeching stop as the the man's delivery truck found itself in front of the grocery store. The soda cans could hardly hold in their excitment because they knew that they were only a few more moments away from entering the big fridge. As the big burly man so graciously, yet firmly, took the cans out and stocked them into the fridge, the sodas lit up with excitment and great expectation. Once the sodas were all placed safely into the fridge, there came a time when people came in to take them out and finally fulfill the expectations of chosen soda cans. It seemed like forever before that time finally came; even so, it did in fact come. The first soda can was chosen by a scraggly young man, somewhere in his mid-twenties. As that can was chosen, it burst into a song of celebration that would have moved people to tears if it could have been heard, turned to say its goodbyes, and gave hope to the sodas that were left in the fridge.
“ Don't worry. One day you will get picked, too, and on that day you will be as full of joy as I am!”
As young man made his way to the check-out lane, the soda can awaited to see what would happen next. You see, the soda can had always known that he would go into a fridge and that someone would buy him, but he was clueless as to what would happen after his purchase.
The soda can quickly found that piece of the puzzle as the young man stepped out the doors of the store. The young man held the soda can, (not as gracefully or with the same amount of love as the older, burly man) put his index finger and thumb on the tab, and applied enough pressure to pop open the top. Pain like the can had never felt before shot right through its body and the can let out a horrid sceam. The can didn't know what to think; this all was happening so fast and there was so much pain. The soda can's world was spinning so fast he thought he was going to be sick. Although the soda can thought it could get no worse, it certainly did. The young man proceeded to pick up the can, put his mouth on the rim, and began drinking the contents of the can. The can had no idea what was happening, but all of a sudden it felt very tired and drained. To top it all off, as the young man left the store, he tossed the soda in the direction of the trash can only to miss it by about four feet. Lying there empty, used up, exposed, and left alone, the soda can longed to be back in the fridge where it was safe and comfortable.
Days went by and no one payed any attention to the can. Every once in a while the wind would blow it just close enough to the trash can to give the soda can hope of ending its life, only to blow it further away. It was almost as though the wind enjoyed teasing the soda can and enjoyed the soda can's look of torment. Even worse than the wind were the people and the merciless cars. People would step on the can, cars would run over it- day after day it was the same routine. The can had given up on its dreams and had given up on life; it longed to just be thrown away and forgotten about.
One day, as the sun was just starting to shine over the top of the grocery store, a man in his early thirties picked up the can. However, at this point, the can had learned not to get its hopes up; people had picked it up before only to throw it back down, causing even more pain and leaving it alone, once again. This time it was different, though. This man had no intentions of dropping the can back down. He was carrying the soda can to the trash. The can tried not to get its hopes up, but couldn't help it; today could finally be the last day of its life, in which it would be able to rest in peace. The man brought it all the way to the trash, but dropped it right next to it in a blue bin. Once dropped, the soda can fell for what seemed like forever, only to land on top of other broken, angry, hurt, and empty cans. No one talked to anyone else in the bin, for they were all so bitter over how terribly their lives had turned out. Each day, all the cans just sat there.
The ground shook underneath the bin and scared all the cans inside as a dark and huge truck pulled in. Out of the truck came another big and burly man- different than the one that the soda can had first seen but similar enough to bring a smile as it remembed life in the fridge. The man picked the bin up and emptied it into the back of the truck were the can landed on top of even more broken, angry, hurt, and empty cans. They had no idea were they were going, but knew that it had to be better than laying out on the street broken and forgotten.
Despite the ignorance of the soda cans, the truck was actually pulling up to a factory. When the truck had arrived, this new burly man emptied the back of the truck and all of the soda cans landed on another ramp that led them to a series of machines. In this factory the soda can experienced more pain and hurt than it ever had out on the street. It screamed incessantly, with fierce anger in his eyes that disguised all of the tears that wanted pour out. The can longed to be out in the street instead of in that factory. The can became so angry at that man in his thirties for putting him in the bin instead of the trash can. The soda can blamed the man for all of the pain and agony that the can was now facing. The soda can reached the point that he just became cold to everything. He ignored the pain. He sort of just let his mind disappear.
When the soda can came out of its stupor, it was completely dumbfounded. There was no more pain, no more dents or holes, and it was filled up to the top again. However, something was different. The can looked the same from the outside but on the inside there were pieces of other cans attached to it. Its new life was forever joned together with the good and bad of other cans. It was only then that tears of condensation began to run down the side of the can as it realized what had happened. Regret and sorrow came upon it as it remembered all the hateful things that it had said about the man in his thirties. At that moment the soda can realized that the man wasn't trying to cause it more pain, but was only trying to give it a new life and another chance to live its dream.
So many of us are that soda can. We grew up with all of these dreams and ambitions for our lives, and as kids we saw ourselves doing so many great and wonderful things. What happened?
Life was certainly not easy and as we got older we allowed people to tell us that our dreams were childish and that they would never come true. We listened long enough that we started to believe what people said and we ended up giving up on our dreams. On the other hand, maybe we were living our dreams (like the soda can), but underestimated how much pain was going to come and found ourselves broken, used, abused, and emptied out. For those of you who relate to this story of the soda can, know that there is One who is longing to pick you up and give you a new life. Don't be fooled; it may still be a rough road; but, I promise that you won't be traveling alone anymore. As you begin to get renewed, use your new life as a living testimony to all the other hurting and empty soda cans in this world. Let them know that there is One whose love knows no bounds, One who desires to pick them up out of their messes and show them their purposes.
