I found myself in line at the grocery store in a daze, waiting for my turn to empty the wallet again (Am I the only one noticing that food prices have skyrocketed lately?).

But I suddenly awoke in noticing that the 3 people ahead of me all had these big colorful containers…of Mr. Peanut Dry Roasted Peanuts!  How odd. . .that 3 in a row picked-up the same item.

lessons-for-the-church-from-mr-peanut1

So I quickly turned around and scanned the end-caps for a promotional display. I didn’t find one, but did see the aisle in which peanuts would be found.  I abandoned the line and went in search of Mr. Peanut. Why? Purely because of the packaging.

Sure enough, I found Mr. Peanut and he accompanied me back to the checkout line (yes, I got the same spot in line again).

This impulse buy kept me thinking as I snacked throughout the week. It seemed like just another classic success story in product marketing. “Who better to serve American’s favorite peanuts than Mr. Peanut himself?”

But what I’ve come to understand in my week long relationship with Mr. Peanut is that the Church has something to learn from him: (more…)