POP! —

Pop! The sound of a cork escaping the confines of a champagne bottle. The brilliant explosion of fireworks across a deep black sky. A splash of brilliant color on a stark white page. Even the sound of Rice Krisipies in a bowl when fresh milk is poured over them. (Are you old enough to remember the old jingle, "Snap! Crackle! and Pop!"?)

All of these catch our attention for different reasons. They're different than the norm. Well, maybe not the Rice Krispies. I've read and heard that writers, bloggers, journalists, speakers, pitch men (err, pitch-persons) are supposed to start their verbiage with some attention-getting hook—some type of "pop!"

Pop or popped?

So, why are pop music or pop culture, and other such things, designated with a pop prefix? Especially when they don't stand out as anything special? Most pop-this-or-that seem pretty bland, middle-of-the-road, dull, or even blah.

In the 80's, mixes of several songs with different beats and rhythms were popular. Sometimes the songs were indistinguishably mooshed together. I hated those. It ruined the identity and distinctness of the songs for the sake of who knows what.

Popular or mediocre?

And that's exactly what happens with most things pop—they lose identity and distinctness by appealing to a wider slice of what's popular. When that happens a dilution of value takes place. They lose their pop! for the sake of popularity. It reduces things down to a state of mediocrity.

This contrast of "pops" illustrates a contrast of choices in this life. You can go with the flow and walk with the crowd, or choose a different way.

When I was wandering and lost in life, one Scripture passage stood out to me—Matthew 7:13-14. It speaks of two different gates leading to two different roads, which lead to two different destinations.

I realized that I needed to make a choice if I wanted to escape the mundane life of this planet. A life different now and forever.

A different way

When I hear too much Christian pop music, it bores me. And nowadays, too many Christian talks or messages (that used to be called sermons) do the same thing.

They bore me because there's not much depth or substance to them. But they sound good and appeal to a broad section of people (I guess). In other words, they are popular, but lack pop!