It is that time of year when candy canes make quite an appearance. I am fairly sure they will be spotted around schools and among our students on Friday (our last school day before the Christmas holidays).

There seem to be various legends regarding the origin of the candy cane but one that I particularly like goes like this.

There was once a candy maker who wanted to make a candy at Christmas time that would tell the story of Christmas according to his Christian faith. He wanted to include several symbols to tell about Jesus’ birth, teaching, death and resurrection. He began with a stick of pure white hard candy; white to symbolise the pure and sinless nature of Jesus, God’s Son; hard to symbolise solid rock, Jesus, the foundation on which our Christian faith stands; and firm to represent God’s promises.

The candy maker made the candy in the shape of a ‘J’ to represent the name of Jesus who was born into our world to be God’s saviour for all people. If you turn the candy upside down it looks like a shepherd’s crook. The Bible tells us that it was the shepherds who were among the first visitors to see and worship the baby Jesus; and Jesus would later be described as our ‘Good Shepherd’ who lifts us up just as a shepherd would use his crook to lift and guide his precious sheep.

Now, thinking the candy was a bit plain looking, the candy maker added stripes. He used three to show that Jesus (God the Son) was intertwined with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. He used a red stripe as a pointer to the blood that Jesus would shed on a cross so that the gift of everlasting life could be available for all who follow Him. And finally, the sweet taste and smell of the candy adds to the joy of Christmas time.

It is that time of year when candy canes make quite an appearance. I am fairly sure they will be spotted around our school and among our students on Friday (our last school day before the Christmas holidays).

There seem to be various legends regarding the origin of the candy cane but one that I particularly like goes like this.

There was once a candy maker who wanted to make a candy at Christmas time that would tell the story of Christmas according to his Christian faith. He wanted to include several symbols to tell about Jesus’ birth, teaching, death and resurrection. He began with a stick of pure white hard candy; white to symbolise the pure and sinless nature of Jesus, God’s Son; hard to symbolise solid rock, Jesus, the foundation on which our Christian faith stands; and firm to represent God’s promises.

The candy maker made the candy in the shape of a ‘J’ to represent the name of Jesus who was born into our world to be God’s saviour for all people. If you turn the candy upside down it looks like a shepherd’s crook. The Bible tells us that it was the shepherds who were among the first visitors to see and worship the baby Jesus; and Jesus would later be described as our ‘Good Shepherd’ who lifts us up just as a shepherd would use his crook to lift and guide his precious sheep.

Now, thinking the candy was a bit plain looking, the candy maker added stripes. He used three to show that Jesus (God the Son) was intertwined with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. He used a red stripe as a pointer to the blood that Jesus would shed on a cross so that the gift of everlasting life could be available for all who follow Him. And finally, the sweet taste and smell of the candy adds to the joy of Christmas time.

- Peter Weier, Interim Principal