Candy Canes and Controversy

Today in church, each person received a candy cane with a note tied to it. The note talked about the origin of the candy cane. It told how the colors were made to represent Christ’s purity and His shed blood, and the “J” shape is for Jesus and His shepherd’s staff.

I had never heard this and wanted to see if it is true or not. According to the internet, there seems to be debate as to whether this is urban legend or truth. Below are two viewpoints, one from each side. The first is from essortment.com and the second is from snopes.com. Finally, I’ll finish with my conclusion.

Viewpoint 1

In 1670 during the Living Creche ceremony at the Cologne Cathedral, the choir director handed out these sugar sticks to keep the young singers quiet. Legend has it that he bent the sticks to appear as shepherd’s hooks. The original candy cane was white in color, no stripes! Both amateur and professionals began making canes over 350 years ago.

During the seventeenth century people began to include special decorations on their Christmas trees. These decorations would be cookies, candy, or sugar candy. At this time, Christmas trees were beginning to gain popularity. It did not take long before people were using the candy canes as an ornament on their special Christmas tree. It seemed the candy canes left the pews and became a valued ornament in many homes around the world.

Soon the red and white stripes tasted like peppermint. In Atlanta, Georgia, a man by the name of Bob McCormack got the idea of making these candy canes as special treats for his relatives, friends, and other shopkeepers. Since the process of making the canes entailed so much labor, he was only able to do this locally. And then it happened! Bob’s brother, Gregory Keller, knew there had to be an easier way to make the candy canes. Gregory invented a machine to produce the canes at a much faster pace. Therefore, Bob’s Candies has become the largest producer of candy canes in the world.

Have you pondered the shape of the candy cane? Legend states the beginnings of the candy cane are Christian. The shape resembles a shepherd’s crook. It has also been found that the candy cane was given to children who learned their prayers. The shape of the candy cane, like a ‘J’, signifies Jesus. Since the church was founded on a solid rock, this is related to the hardness of the candy. Hyssop, a cleansing plant mentioned in the Old Testament, has a peppermint flavor. Christ’s blood and His purity are represented by the red and white stripes.

If you take a good look at a candy cane, you will notice the different size of the red stripe. The blood that was shed on the cross is represented by the wide red stripe. The stripes and wounds that he received are symbolized by the smaller red stripes. The sinlessness and purity is represented by the white stripes.

Bob’s Candy of Georgia has been in business for over 80 years making candy canes. Of course, today the process of making this tasty treat has changed over time. A railcar is delivered to Bob’s Candy in which the sugar and corn syrup are already blended. This blend is put in cookers that cook the mixture at the rate of 6,000 pounds per hour. The syrup is poured out 100 pounds per hour to be worked. The next step is to pour the syrup onto a ‘rock’, which is a water-cooled table. The ‘rock’ is the same as a marble slab. Once the syrup is slightly cooled, it is put in a pulling machine. This part of the process is what makes the candy silky white. The machine puffs air into the candy, which is the reason for the silky white color. Now, here comes the fun part. A pre-measured vial of pure peppermint oil is poured into the batch.

A small batch of unsullied candy is mixed with red coloring by kneading. As you may guess, this is what forms the pinstripes. Long thin stripes are made from this mixture. These thin stripes are placed on thin strips of white candy that is six-inches wide. Two sets of pinstripes and two wide solid stripes are placed on a candy that has been formed in a bolster shape. As the candy goes through the spinner, it is waxed. Once the candy has been lifted into a batch roller, someone has to watch closely. The batch roller maintains the shape of the candy. The candy is taken to the wrap-pack room where it is twisted, cut and wrapped.

After the candy has been twisted, cut, and wrapped it resembles a candy rope. The candy rope is dropped into a blender, which makes the candy have crooks. The candy proceeds to the air-cooled convey or tunnels. Then they are ready to be packed into cradle packs. These trays are stored in climate-controlled warehouses until the Christmas season begins.

Viewpoint 2

Claim: Candy canes were created to symbolize Jesus, their shape representing the letter “J” and their colors standing for the purity and blood of Christ.
Status: False.
Example: A candymaker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would be a witness, so he made the Christmas Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols from 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 candymaker made the candy in the form of a “J” to represent the precious
name of Jesus, who came to earth as our Savior. 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 candymaker stained it with red stripes. He used three small stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received by which we are healed. The large red stripe was 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 a Candy Cane — a meaningless decoration seen at Christmas time. But the meaning is still there for those who “have eyes to see and ears to hear.” Every time you see a Candy Cane, remember the Wonder of Jesus and His Great Love that came down at Christmas, and that His Love remains the ultimate and dominant force in the universe today.

Variations: Candy canes are also said to have been created: As a sweet treat for children who behaved well in church. As a form of identification among Christians during a time of persecution.
Origins: The red-and-white-striped, sugary candy cane can be found everywhere at Christmas time. It’s as much an ornament as it is a confection, and people munch these treats and decorate with them, scarcely giving a thought to just where candy canes came from in the first place. It has become fashionable of late to claim that the candy cane was not only designed to be fraught with Christian religious symbolism, but that it was created as a means by which
persecuted Christians could furtively identify each other.

Like the apocryphal tale of the “true” meaning of the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” these claims are fiction — latter day attempts to infuse secular holiday traditions with specifically religious origins and meanings. First off, the notion that candy canes could have been used as a secret means of identification by persecuted European Christians is directly contradicted by history. Candy canes didn’t appear until at least the latter part of the 17th century, by which time Europe was almost entirely Christian. By then, people who were not Christians would have been the ones in need of this form of “secret handshake”!

Next, candy canes were most assuredly not created by “a candymaker in Indiana” who “stained them with red stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received.” Candy
canes were around long before there was an Indiana, and they initially bore neither red coloration nor striping — the red stripes were a feature that did not appear until a few
hundred years later, at the beginning of the 20th century:

“About 1847, August Imgard of Ohio managed to decorate his Christmas tree with candy canes to entertain his nephews and nieces. Many who saw his canes went home to boil sugar and experiment with canes of their own. It took nearly another half century before someone added stripes to the canes . . . Christmas cards produced before 1900 show plain white canes, while striped ones appear on many cards printed early in the 20th century.”

In fact, the strongest connection one can make between the origins of the candy cane and intentional Christian symbolism is to note that legend says someone took an existing form of candy which was already being used as a Christmas decoration (i.e., straight white sticks of sugar candy) and produced bent versions which represented a shepherd’s crook and were handed out to children at church to ensure their good behavior:

“Soon after Europeans adopted the use of Christmas trees, they began making special decorations for them. Food items predominated, with cookies and candy heavily represented. That is when straight, white sticks of sugar candy came into use at Christmas, probably during the seventeenth century.
Tradition has it that some of these candies were put to use in Cologne Cathedral about 1670 while restless youngsters were attending ceremonies around the living creche. To
keep them quiet, the choirmaster persuaded craftsmen to make sticks of candy bent at the end to represent shepherds’ crooks, then he passed them out to boys and girls who came to the cathedral.”

Claims made about the candy’s religious symbolism have become increasingly widespread as religious leaders have assured their congregations that these mythologies are factual, the press have published these claims as authoritative answers to readers’ inquiries about the
confection’s meaning, and several lavishly illustrated books purport to tell the “true story” of the candy cane’s origins. This is charming folklore at best, and though there’s nothing
wrong with finding (and celebrating) symbolism where there wasn’t any before, the story of the candy cane’s origins is, like Santa Claus, a myth and not a “true story.”

Least important: My conclusion

I think the last paragraph of viewpoint two hits the nail on the head. The origins of the candy cane may be different depending on who you talk to. No one may be all correct on their candy cane history. I’m sure there is some truth to all sides of the issue. Ultimately, does it really matter? Yes, and no.

If Christians want to remember Christ’s sacrifice and purity when they look at a candy cane, then great! If we want to see his staff when we look at the “J” of a cane, then that is a good thing. We as Christ followers always need reminders of God in our lives.

I think we only invite trouble on ourselves from outsiders and “preChristians” looking in on us from the outside if we push too hard for the origin of the candy cane to fit in our “mold.” I want to be a true follower of Jesus and I want to honor Him, but only in Truth. I lose credibility with others if I stretch a story to fit an agenda.

When talking to someone about the candy cane, maybe what I’ll say is that the colors remind me of His sacrifice for me and His staff as He guides me. To go farther to say that the design of the cane was made because of Jesus, may not be fully truthful. What do you think?

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Stuck in Orlando

I figured I’d make a quick blog entry while I wait. This is the second Friday night this month where I have to work late on Friday night, only to have to work longer because of maintenance delays.

As with the last Friday, We flew from Columbus to Orlando, and after a three hour sit at the airport, we were supposed to fly back to Columbus and be finished around 10:00 pm. Sounds easy, right?

Well, it works great when the plan runs smoothly, but when an aircraft goes down for a while with maintenance, it throws a wrench into the system. The last time this happened, we sat for three hours, and then when it was time to go and our plane arrived, the captain giving me the plane told me about a problem with the anti-ice system that would have to be fixed before we left for Columbus. It sounds crazy working on anti-icing systems in Orlando, where it is 80 degrees, but we have to remember that we are flying to Columbus where it is 25!

Tonight, we have just finished a three hour sit and now I found out that our plane isn’t due into Orlando until 9:00 pm, because it had maintenance earlier in the day, putting it behind schedule everywhere it goes. Oh well, at least I have my laptop and free wifi in the Orlando airport. So goes another Friday night for this glamorous job of being a pilot — sitting in a noisy terminal!

By the way, I do feel like airports should provide free wifi everywhere. Orlando (MCO) has it, Columbus (CMH) has it, but very few others do. Many airports provide wifi, but at a cost of up to 12 bucks a day to use, plus signing up for the service! In time, I’m sure the trend will be to provide it for free, but until then . . .

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The Watchmaker

 Click the clock to be taken to the Kid’s 4 Truth web site that has a great animation of the poem, The Watchmaker. The poem describes the logical position of creationism based on the fact that a watch needs a watchmaker, just as the universe needs a creator as well. The poem is below and it’s my hope you’ll pass it along to others.

A long time ago on a planet so bare, some water and dirt got mixed up with the air.
Some sand and some rocks to make it just right, the stage was all set in the deep of the night.

A bolt of lightning, a great peal of thunder, and suddenly there was a marvelous wonder.
The rocks yielded metal, the sand turned to glass, and as the years flew, a new thing came to pass.

The metal formed gears, the glass a watch face, and little by little, things fell into place.
The parts came together, just like a good rhyme, with ticks and with tocks and with hands that tell time.
A beautiful watch began ticking one day, formed all by itself in a wonderful way!

“Ridiculous story!” you say with a grin. “Impossible, laughable . . . surely a sin!”
A watch needs a watchmaker, that’s plain to see, a designer and builder that makes it for me.

Now life is made of some interesting stuff, cells of all shapes like blobs filled with fluff.
But looks are deceiving and what we find there are factories and highways and gadgets to spare.

Assembly lines, robots, electrical cable, libraries, software; just look, if you’re able!
The marvels we see with a microscope’s stare make a watch look so simple, we dare not compare.

Now the doctors from Oxford say cells came by Chance, from Goo down to you, in a beautiful dance.
What’s wrong with their thinking to have such odd notions?
That cells could just happen from dirt and warm oceans!

A cell and its wonders amaze all who see; and a cell, like a watch, by Chance cannot be.
Those cells can build hummingbirds, agile and free, bumble bees, snails, my backyard oak tree.

A woodpecker built with a jackhammer nose, lightning bugs, monkeys, a beautiful rose.
And beetles with bombs that give frogs a surprise, chameleons with camouflage and some weird eyes.

All nature on Earth is so wondrously fine, we have to admit that it’s all by Design;
And our Maker owns everything both great and small, He’s the masterful “Watchmaker,” Lord over all.

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YouTube’s NewsBusted

Tired of the same old ideology coming from the major news networks? Then try watching the twenty some youtube clips from News Busted. It’s conservative comedy in the style of network news.

They are really funny and clever and only about two minutes long. Go to their youtube website here.

Here’s a sample clip:

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Political Cartoons

I know, I know. We should all stay away from political discussions, but I thought these were funny because they play to the stereotypes given in the media. Please don’t be offended, as there are plenty of cartoons smashing Bush and conservatives in papers across the world. Call these equal time?








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The first snow of the season

I absolutely love the snow. Growing up in Indonesia and then Texas, I didn’t see too much of it, so now, even as an adult (loose definition) I still enjoy seeing it covering everything.

Ohio has a good balance of snow, where it comes, looks great, and then melts away. If it stays too long, like in Chicago or NYC, then it just gets muddy and this oily, black slush stays around for months, like sooty oatmeal! I love the white clean look of snow that we get here in Columbus.

Of course, it’s a good reminder of how a relationship with Christ can make us look and feel clean. As Autumn turns to winter, the earth can look dead and gray. When it snows, there is this refreshing, cleansing feeling that the land takes on. The snow reflects the sunlight and brightens everything up. Jesus can do the same thing: brighten our lives as we shine for him, and give us a clean and fresh start, wiping the dead decay out of our lives. The past is past and the new is here. That’s what snow says to me. It also says “Christmas!”

If you’d like to know more about Christ, or if you have a doctorate in Theology, I’d encourage you to check out David Dykes’ blog. He updates it at least once a week and gives some encouraging words and challenging thoughts in his posts. He is the pastor of Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas, where my parents attend. 12,000 members are fortunate to hear his powerful sermons each Sunday in the GABC pulpit.

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