The Candy Cane

[aReformedPatriot]

The Candy Cane: (tis so sweet to trust in Jesus)

Upside down, its a "J" for Jesus.
Right side up, its a shepherds staff because he is our shepherd
The red stripes = "by his stripes we are healed"
the white symbolizes righteousness.

I heard this in childrens sermon yesterday and dug on it and I thought id post it. I think I shall give my co-workers a candy cane and lightly expound on those points for Christmas

 

[Monica02]

It can also be a representation of Nicholas' crozier.

 

[Gold Dragon]

I think it is nice that we can use the candy cane as a reminder of Christ and his message of hope.

My only beef with these types of stories is when Christians share them as historical origins stories without good research. Snopes

The twelve days of Christmas is another origins story that often gets propogated incorrectly. Snopes

While I think it is great to use these songs and symbols to remind us of Christian ideas, let's do so without spreading urban legends that these were their actual historical roots.

 

[ZiSunka]

Amen GD, amen!

 

[aReformedPatriot]

I think it is nice that we can use the candy cane as a reminder of Christ and his message of hope.

My only beef with these types of stories is when Christians share them as historical origins stories without good research. Snopes

The twelve days of Christmas is another origins story that often gets propogated incorrectly. Snopes

While I think it is great to use these songs and symbols to remind us of Christian ideas, let's do so without spreading urban legends that these were their actual historical roots.

Humbug... i knew people were too serious.

I figured it wasnt going to 100% correct in terms of history, but it is what we make it.

 

[DiscipleOfIAm]

Humbug... i knew people were to serious.

Don't be discouraged. I liked it and plan to send it to all my friends and family in my address book. Even if it isn't "official", anything we can use to spread God's word is worth sharing.

God Bless

 

[Gold Dragon]

Humbug... i knew people were to serious.

Call me Scrooge.

I wasn't really directing this at you since you didn't suggest that these were their origins. But many other Christians and even pastors (mine was guilty too) tend to do this.

Carry on!

 

[aReformedPatriot]

Call me Scrooge.

I wasn't really directing this at you since you didn't suggest that these were their origins. But many other Christians and even pastors (mine was guilty too) tend to do this.

Carry on!

haha

 

[S682]

Call them a legend and leave it at that.

 

[SumTinWong]

Call me Scrooge.

I wasn't really directing this at you since you didn't suggest that these were their origins. But many other Christians and even pastors (mine was guilty too) tend to do this.

Carry on!

Next you are going to tell us there is no Santa Claus

 

[mesue]

Humbug... i knew people were too serious.
...

Not me, I love that story!! I'm Bapticostal!!
Even if it just plants a tiny seed I can use almost anything to reach others for the Lord Jesus Christ. And isn't that what it's all about?
We have the Bible to show other's the truth, candy canes are nice enticers, like carrots for a horse.
Lighten up a little, sheesh!

 

[mesue]

Next you are going to tell us there is no Santa Claus

No Santa?

Nooooooooooooooooo!







j/k

 

[SumTinWong]

hahaha. in rare form today mesue. Keep it up That .gif reminds me of a funny Bill Cosby routine that he did a great many years ago...

 

[Gold Dragon]

Next you are going to tell us there is no Santa Claus

Since you asked...

Physics of Santa Claus

1. No known species of reindeer can fly. BUT there are 300,000 species of living organisms yet to be classified, and while most of these are insects and germs, this does not COMPLETELY rule out flying reindeer which only Santa has ever seen.

2. There are 2 billion children (persons under 18) in the world. BUT since Santa doesn't (appear) to handle the Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Buddhist children, that reduces the workload to 15% of the total -- 378 million according to Population Reference Bureau. At an average (census)rate of 3.5 children per household, that's 91.8 million homes. One presumes there's at least one good child in each.

3. Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west(which seems logical). This works out to 822.6 visits per second. This is to say that for each Christian household with good children, Santa has 1/1000th of a second to park, hop out of the sleigh, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left, get back up the chimney, get back into the sleigh and move on to the next house. Assuming that each of these 91.8 million stops are evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course, we know to be false but for the purposes of our calculations we will accept), we are now talking about .78 miles per household, a total trip of 75-1/2 million miles, not counting stops to do what most of us must do at least once every 31 hours, plus feeding and etc. This means that Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second, 3,000 times the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man-made vehicle on earth, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a poky 27.4 miles per second -- a conventional reindeer can run, tops, 15 miles per hour.

4. The payload on the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium-sized lego set (2 pounds), the sleigh is carrying 321,300 tons, not counting Santa, who is invariably described as overweight. On land, conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds. Even granting that "flying reindeer" (see point #1) could pull TEN TIMES the normal anoint, we cannot do the job with eight, or even nine. We need 214,200 reindeer. This increases the payload - not even counting the weight of the sleigh -- to 353,430 tons. Again, for comparison -- this is four times the weight of the Queen Elizabeth.

5. 353,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance -- this will heat the reindeer up in the same fashion as spacecrafts re-entering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer will absorb 14.3 QUINTILLION joules of energy. Per second. Each. In short, they will burst into flame almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them, and create deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire reindeer team will be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second. Santa, meanwhile, will be subjected to centrifugal forces 17,500.06 times greater than gravity. A 250-pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim)would be pinned to the back of his sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force.

In conclusion -- If Santa ever DID deliver presents on Christmas Eve, he's dead now.

.....

Rebuttals below

 

[SumTinWong]

This is the result of that little essay my firend. I hope you are happy.

 

[ZiSunka]

Call them a legend and leave it at that.

I think the candy cane can be a great tool AND a great candy treat. But leave the legend in Legend Land. When Christians use stories and pass them on saying they are the truth, then the truth does come out, it makes us look like fools or liars.

The way TLE presented it is fine, it's the silly Legend of the Candy Cane, Legend of the Dogwood, Legend of the Candle stuff I object to. There are enough great real stories to pass alone as encouragements, we don't really need to pass along legends.

 

[prettyrose436]

oh, the story of the candy cane is usually told to kids, which i think is perfectly fine. I remember being told that story! No, we don't know if it's historically accurate, but if a non-christian wants to poke fun at us, then they will find a way no matter what we say. I say keep telling the story

 

[ZiSunka]

oh, the story of the candy cane is usually told to kids, which i think is perfectly fine. I remember being told that story! No, we don't know if it's historically accurate, but if a non-christian wants to poke fun at us, then they will find a way no matter what we say. I say keep telling the story

It's not only told to kids. I've gotten it by email from Chrisitan friends at least five times this week. I'm not saying it shouldn't ever be told, but it shouldn't be presented as truth. It's okay to use stories, Jesus certainly did, but when we add details, like "there was the Christian candymaker who was looking for a way to tell people about Jesus..." and then name names and dates, well, that borders on lying.

 

[aReformedPatriot]

Since you asked...

Heresy!

LOL

 

[RED that's ME]

Santa's not real!?!?! I saw mama kissing Santa Claus under the mistletoe.