December 10, 2011
Symbol of Christmas:
Candy Cane
If I remember right, the rule was we couldn't eat the candy canes on the tree unless they were broken. But a candy cane just sitting by its self on the tree isn't going to break very fast. But maybe if it accidentally got knocked off it would break...
I'm sure we tried everything. But other than a yummy treat at Christmas time, what is the purpose of the candy cane? I found a good explanation from this site:
When the practice of using Christmas trees to celebrate Christmas became popular in Europe the people there began making decorations for their trees. Many of the decorations were food items including cookies and candy. Our modern candy cane appeared at about this time in the seventeenth century. These were straight, white sticks of sugar candy.
Part of the Christmas celebration at the Cologne Cathedral were pageants of living crèches (nativity). In about 1670 the choirmaster there had sticks of candy bent into the shape of a shepherd’s crook and passed them out to children who attended the ceremonies. This became a popular tradition, and eventually the practice of passing out the sugar canes at living crèche ceremonies spread throughout Europe.The use of candy canes on Christmas trees made its way to America by the 1800′s, however during this time they were still pure white. They are represented this way on Christmas cards made before 1900, and it is not until the early 20th century that they appear with their familiar red stripes.
It seems like this is one of the few traditions that doesn't have a long history and hasn't really evolved much. So in keeping with the original meaning, the candy cane reminds us of a shepherd. But why should we think about shepherds at Christmas? Well, Christ is sometimes referred to as the Good Shepherd, and we are like His sheep. And then there are the shepherds from the story of His birth. I want to focus on them because of something I read the other day when I was doing the post about the angel. This is in Luke 2:15-20.
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds...And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
I sometimes wonder about these shepherds. What must it have been like to see and hear the things they did? A few words stood out to me as I read. The first one was in verse 16 where "they came with haste." They must have been pretty close by because when they found Jesus he was in the manger still. But they went quickly. They didn't wait until morning, or until they could find someone else to watch their sheep for them. They went as soon as the angels left. Then when they had seen Jesus, they didn't go home but they went and "made known abroad" everything that had happened, what they'd seen and heard. After all that, they finally went home but it didn't end there. They still "glorified and praised God" for everything that had happened to them.
The candy cane can remind us that we need to be like the shepherds. We have a wonderful gift. The gospel of Jesus Christ is available to us. We have the opportunity to embrace it now, and not wait until it may be "convenient." When we have the light of the gospel in our lives, we can share it with others wherever we go. We can "make it known abroad" more easily now than ever with the use of modern technology. And finally, we can glorify and praise God for the wonderful gift we have, and for His son, Jesus Christ, not just at this time of year, but always.
