In the tradition of opening a door on an Advent calendar, we open today’s post to reveal…

… there’s 14 days to Christmas Day…

and today’s spice is…

… Pimento or Allspice

A pinch of spice

Pimento, known more commonly as allspice tastes like a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and pepper making it a great all-in-one spice for Christmas. Whole dried berries are used in Christmas pickles and chutneys, while the ground spice is added to both sweet and savoury dishes. Pimento or allspice is a main ingredient in Jamaican cuisine and appears in many Jamaican Christmas dishes including Gungo peas and a drink called Sorrel.

A pinch of the Christmas story

God All-Powerful has done

great things for me,

    and his name is holy.

He always shows mercy

to everyone

    who worships him.

Luke 1:49 – 50 (CEV)

A pinch of reflection

It is hard for us to fully comprehend the all-encompassing, all-powerful nature of God. We use words to try and describe God’s mercy and greatness to each other, but our words often feel inadequate. We don’t have the experience to see the whole of God’s greatness. Instead, we see glimpses of God’s greatness at work in our lives and in the lives of those around us. These glimpses are something like a pinch of spice, maybe a bit like allspice with a combination of flavours in one all-in-one pinch. What a difference a little bit of God’s love and grace makes to us.