Holiday treats

It is white with shiny red stripes. Sweet mint that tastes just right. Some may use them to give our tree a better sight, and sometimes share them on that snowy night. We see them hanging around every Christmas holiday, but who has really thought of what they may represent? The ginger bread man is so nicely decorated and owns a home. They are cookies that are so sweet and tasty, but why the form of a man? Fruit baskets on Christmas eve, or eating 12 fruits once the new year is gone, what does it mean? The stories behind the candy cane, the gingerbread man, and why we eat fruit on Christmas aren’t accurate. But they sure are spiritual and nice to follow.
The candy cane has five details within in that have great meaning. The story comes from the reason a candy maker created this candy around Christmas time. It was to represent Jesus Christ. The color on the candy cane which is white represents the pure life of Jesus and the virgin birth. The three red stripes are on the candy cane to represent the whip marks he received while being crucified. The thicker one stands for the blood he shed. The form of the candy cane is that of a “J” which of course is the first letter of his name. The flavor of the candy cane is similar to something called Hyssop. Hyssop was a plant used by Hebrews which stood for purification, and has a mint aroma. They state it was used at the cross before Jesus died. This story is not accurate, but if you think of it and follow this religion it makes sense and is nice to share with kids, or family.
As hard as it was for me to not think of the great character in the movie “Shrek”, I did find the gingerbread man does have significant meaning on Christmas. The gingerbread man is used to represent the similarity between god creating us humans and how we reunite with him. Since the gingerbread man is something we create, (cook, bake, etc) it is similar to that of god creating us. He is meant to be eaten by who created it. Eating represents “reuniting”. Of course god will not eat us, but once we die we unite with him and then take in his body and blood. The spices used to make the gingerbread man are similar to the color of earth. This stands for the way god created Adam, and he came from dust and earth. Again, this may not be true but I find it makes a lot of sense, and of course the gingerbread man does taste pretty good so it’ll make me think of this from now on.
When I was younger, my mom would always make me eat twelve grapes on New Years Eve. She never quite told me why. I just assumed it was because it was twelve midnight, or because of the 12 months in a year. After reading about it, I noticed it’s not only because of that. On Christmas people give away fruit baskets to represent the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit. These twelve things are part of what we go through in a year or overall. However I do recall my mom mentioning each one before eating each grape. They are, “charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, suffering, mildness, faith, modesty, purity and chastity.” If you think about it, all of these emotions are most likely to be felt during a year or life time. Eating the fruit gives you the faith and strength to keep facing them or receiving them. At least that’s what I understand from this tradition.
There are many different meanings for a lot of foods in every holiday or food over all. The Christmas holidays are filled with different food and candies. But these three in specific were the most religious. They may not be entirely true, but they do have great meaning. Hope the spiritual version of it all allows us to think of how the simplest thing can have such detail and meaning to it.