Does your family have the tradition of making Gingerbread houses?
It is said, that the use of ginger is steeped in history, dating back 5000 years. The Indians and ancient Chinese used root of ginger as a tonic to treat common ailments. It is believed to have originated in Southeast Asia, but it is cultivated widely in other countries. It became a homemade concoction in Ireland and England in the 1840’s, catching on in America in 1850’s as the newest drink. John McLaughlin of Canada perfected the drink in 1907. But ginger has established itself in Europe in about 992. Armenian monk Gregory of Nicopolis, who then moved to Bonaroy France, where he taught the art of making Gingerbread for seven years. The Germans are credited with making the Gingerbread houses after the story of Hansel and Gretel.
Gingerbread and ginger cookies were made into all shapes and sizes. In England only official Gingerbread bakers were allowed to make this confection except at Christmas time when anyone could make this treat. It was given as gifts on naming day, upon exiting a church during the holidays, and a myriad of other occasions.
Along with countless other classic lines, William Shakespeare summed gingerbread up pretty well with: “And I had but one penny in the world, thou should’st have it to buy gingerbread.” The custom of building Gingerbread house immigrated here with the Germans in the 1800’s. One of the spirits of the holidays is to get together with friends and family and appreciate everything life has to offer. There’s no better way to do so than by gathering together to create something that is both artistic and delicious. You can put everything on it but the kitchen sink! It is mostly the building of a tradition that brings a family joy, and closer together that matters. The fact that you can eat your mistakes is also a benefit. However, the gingerbread cannot sustain you, for ever. You must ingest other things for proper health. This time of year we take time to remember the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. One of the translations of the word Bethlehem is: House of Bread. This is the town in which the Christ child was born. Coincidence? Not when Jesus is called the Bread of life. God knew exactly what he was doing. It is the one thing you can eat (accepting Christ as your Saviour) that give you eternal life! Now there is something you can sink your teeth into!
As parents it is important to establish Christmas traditions that have deep meaning. Perhaps while building a gingerbread house, you can tell how there was no room in the inn for Mary and Joseph so they were relegated to the stable, where Jesus was born, fulfilling the Prophecy in the Old Testament. Thus making the Bread of Life available to all.
We as writers use the setting of Christmas to base many of our love stories. This is really apropos since the greatest love story in the history of the world began with the Christmas gift from God: For God so loved the world, he gave his only Son.
“And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”
John 6:35
I am that bread of life.
Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
John 6:48-51
“And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.”
I Corinthians 11:24, Luke 22:19-22