More than just another candy?

“I want the J! Please! I want the J”

I looked down at the plate of sugar cookies I was carrying to the kids to decorate. There were a half dozen reindeer,  gingerbread men that more or less resembled the Michelin man, candy canes, trees, and stars.

“I’m sorry; I don’t have any cookies cut out in letters.”

“Yes you do!” She ran over, snatched a candy cane shaped cookie, and busily slopped red and white icing on it.

Of course, given the cookie’s context, I don’ t know how that shape could have been anything but a candy cane. But this girl got one glance of it and determined it was the letter J.

Which got me to thinking: Why isn’t the traditional candy cane a straight stick? It seems like that would be easier to produce. Perhaps it’s so that we can easily hang them on the branches of our Christmas trees.

Or is the candy cane more poignant than we realize?

In 1670, the the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral had sticks of candy bent into the shape of a shepherd’s crook and passed them out to the children who attended the Christmas ceremony. The use of candy canes seems to have immigrated to America in the 1800’s. However, according to pictures on Christmas cards made before 1900, the canes were still completely white.

Can we use the candy cane to point our children to Jesus this Christmas season?

Yes. The legend of the candy cane is that the shape resembles the shepherd’s crook to remind us of Jesus, our Good Shepherd. The white stripe represents the purity of Jesus’ birth and life and the bold red stripe represents God’s love. The flavor of mint is similar to hyssop, which, in Old Testament times, was associated with purification and sacrifice. In the New Testament, it was used at the cross as Jesus was dying in our place as a punishment for our sin.

Whether or not this legend is fact, the candy cane presents us as believers with a simple opportunity to share the truth of the Good News of our Savior.