Surrounded in mystery

Dear friends

I love the mystery of journey that surrounds the first Christmas story. No-one stands still. Everyone is on the move. The journey the wise travellers made was the furthest of all. What is far and what is near very much depends on the comparison of what is being measured. In Counting Down to Christmas, and in the period of Advent we’re the ones on the move and it is us that comes from afar, drawing nearer to God.

Many, if not most, of the spices (and a few herbs) we’ll smell and taste this Christmas originate from places far from me. It’s that same near and far situation though. It will depend on where you’re located as to whether the spices are near or far from you.

I love a good mystery, so I don’t want to reveal the full list of spices we’re going to be featuring, or their places of origin, as all will be revealed during Advent, but maybe this far out from Christmas we can start a bit of a guessing game. I’ll start us off and say that I’m fairly sure you’ll be expecting cinnamon to be one of the 31 spices… it is the classic Christmas spice for many of us… But what else will be included? If you want to have a guess at a spice, make a suggestion in the comments below. Maybe you’ll think of a spice for Christmas that I haven’t included! I welcome your ideas, but don’t worry I’m keeping it all a secret until the big reveal one day at a time during Advent.

This last week has seen several couriers deliver interesting smelling packages at our doorstep. We’re getting ready to make up our Pinch of Spice kits to send out to those who’ve purchased the combination email resource and kit. Don’t worry, if you’ve been meaning to order yours we still have plenty, but sales have started increasing so don’t leave it too late to place your order. You can purchase through our website or send Caroline an email (caroline@kererupublishing.com) to secure your order.

If you are planning on joining in our Counting Down to Christmas this year keep the following in mind…

• If you are based in New Zealand and want to purchase the email resource and the box kit you’ll need to place your order before 26 October 2022. We’ll be sending out the Pinch of Spice kits in the third week of November. Each day there’ll be a bit more than a pinch of spice to open. It’s a daily spice surprise!

• If you are not based in New Zealand or if you only purchase the email resource and not the box kit, you can purchase the subscription right up until 26 November 2022 and you’ll receive all the emails. Once you’ve placed your order I’ll send you an email which includes a PDF attachment with the list of spices you can gather or purchase before we start our Counting Down to Christmas. If you’d prefer to take it a day at a time, and get a spice surprise when you open the daily emails, you have that option.

• If you’re organising a group subscription either for subscription only or subscription and kits, the above deadlines are the same. If you’re wanting to make your own Pinch of Spice kits for your group you will want to allow enough time to obtain the various spices as some will not be quite so easy to purchase as others.

Our Counting Down to Christmas emails will be short and simple. In a couple of weeks I’ll give you a glimpse of what you can expect to receive eachday.

Between now and the 26th November though, I thought I’d pop into your inbox a few times with some of the background learnings, inspiration and thinking I’ve had in preparing this year’s Advent Calendar. There are far more words here than you’ll receive in your daily emails, but if you’re interested in some of my background thinking in preparing the resource please read on…

Caroline’s learnings about Cinnamon

So let’s go back to cinnamon…

Writings about this spice can be found in ancient times, thousands of years before the birth of Jesus Christ. The spice appears in literature from Sri Lanka and China and is included in the Bible.

The Ancient Greeks and Romans valued cinnamon so highly it was recorded as being used as currency. In Rome during the 1st Century AD Pliny the Elder recorded that the value of 350 grams of cinnamon was equivalent to five kilograms of silver. In today’s currency in NZD the price of five kilograms of silver is $6000 and the price of 350 grams of cinnamon is $42.

While I’ve been writing A Pinch of Spice I’ve been thinking about what it means to give something value. What does our culture value today? What is of value to me? What do I value this Christmas?

In Europe in the Middle Ages, adding cinnamon and other spices to dishes was a sign of great wealth. Cinnamon was particuarly used for feasts and occasions like Christmas, for the nobility and wealthy to show off their riches. The search for the source of cinnamon and other spices involved status and power. Where status and power resides it is invariably accompanied by greed. Greed leads people to want what is not theirs to have. As much as I enjoy the taste of cinnamon, it’s hard to fully comprehend what lengths people went to in an attempt to control the spice trade.

While I’ve been writing A Pinch of Spice I’ve been thinking about what it means to follow Jesus’ example and love others. How do we live our lives so we’re not consumed by greed and status and power? What impact does this have on the way I celebrate Advent and Christmas?

There is a legend about a giant bird called the Cinnamologus. As the story goes, the legend was told by traders wanting to keep the price of cinnamon high and to stop others from locating the source of cinnamon. The Cinnamologus was a large bird and would make it’s nest from cinnamon sticks. The nests were made in high trees and were impossible to reach. Traders would lure the Cinnamologus away from their nests with chunks of meat and then the pile of sticks would fall to the ground and be quickly gathered and taken to market.

While I’ve been writing A Pinch of Spice I’ve been thinking about the way the stories we listen to and the stories we tell, shape our worldview. There is an element of ‘them’ and ‘us’ in stories. We seek to find and relate to what is familiar and we seek to separate ourselves from what is less familiar to us. How does our worldview shape our faith? What impact does our worldview have on our Advent and Christmas celebrations?

That’s a few random thoughts from me about cinnamon and spices, Advent and Christmas. I’m really looking forward to sharing Counting Down to Christmas with you in a few weeks and I’d love it if you are keen to join me.

On the journey

Caroline

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