Posted on by Lori Cartmell

The Christmas Fruitcake Hack

Do you like Christmas fruitcake? Or do you just pretend to?

Some people look forward to making or receiving fruitcakes at this time of year. Other people dread the prospect of eating fruitcake yet again.

If you’ve been faking enjoyment of Christmas fruitcake all these years and would really rather not eat any more of it, I think I have a solution for you:

Make Christmas fruitcake cookies instead.

I hit upon this idea years ago and have never looked back. I liked some of the ingredients in fruitcake, but was never fond of the dense, molasses-y cake surrounding them.

With fruitcake cookies, however, you keep the best parts of fruitcake and add more butter. You also omit the ingredients that are unpalatable to you. The recipe is thereby transformed into something completely new. What results is a scrumptious cookie that is a crowd-pleaser whenever I serve it.

In the same way, isn’t that sort of what God does in our lives? When we become believers in Jesus, God keeps the best parts of us and adds the Holy Spirit. As we become more like Jesus, the unpalatable aspects of us are gradually left behind: our impatience, pride, lack of generosity, selfishness, etc.

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Posted on by Lori Cartmell

The Law of the Universe

Newton’s cradle, a device which illustrates conservation of momentum and conservation of energy. Image by 3D Animation Production Company from Pixabay

If you were paying attention during physics class in high school, you’ll know that there are certain laws that the natural world abides by.

The Law of Gravity, for instance. Legend has it that this principle was discovered by a young Isaac Newton when he was hit on the head by an apple which fell from the tree he was sitting under.

Or the Law of Inertia, which states that an object at rest or in motion will continue in that state unless acted upon by an external force. So when I’m sitting in my easy chair and don’t want to get up to do any housework, I’m not being lazy. I’m simply obeying the law of inertia.

I recently heard a wag rephrase Newton’s Third Law of Motion (“For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”). He dubbed it the Law of Emotion: for every male action there is a female overreaction!

Then there’s the Law of Conservation of Energy, which says that energy can’t be created or destroyed, but can be altered from one form to another. For instance, our bodies transform the chemical energy in food into kinetic energy to help us move around.

I think sin has a principle attached to it which is similar to the Law of Conservation of Energy.

Sin can’t just disappear. It has to be dealt with in some way.

But it can be transformed.

As author Dorothy Sayers said, “There is only one real law—the law of the universe. It may be fulfilled either by way of judgement or by the way of grace, but it must be fulfilled one way or the other.”

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