The Candy Cane Witness
Dale Kelly (ddkelly@SPRINT.CA)
Tue, 22 Dec 1998 16:38:02 -0400
I had the opportunity to recently attend my neighbours childrens Chritmas
Pagent at their Church. This was the foundation of their play the Candy Cane
it was a wonderful experience to visit and attend other denominations this
time of the year.
Here is the story that accompanied the invitation I thought I would like to
share it with you.
A candy maker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would be a witness, so
he made the Christmas Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols for the
birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ.
He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy: white to symbolize the
Virgin Birth and the sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the
Solid Rock, the Foundation of the Church and firmness of the promises of
God.
The Candy Maker made the candy in the form of a 'J' to represent the
precious name of Jesus, who came to earth as our Saviour. It could also
represent the staff of the Good Shepherd with which He reaches down into the
ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs who like all sheep have
gone astray. Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candy maker
stained it with red stripes. He used three small stripes for the blood shed
by Christ on the cross, so that we could have the promise of eternal life.
Unfortunately, the candy became known as the Candy Cane-a meaningless
decoration seen at Christmas time. But meaning is still there for all those
who "have eyes to see and ears to hear." We pray this symbol will again be
used to witness to the wonder of Jesus and His great love that came down at
Christmas.
YIS,
Dale Kelly
1st Cole Harbour Cubs
ADC Colony Atlantic View Area Dartmouth Nova Scotia Canada
