Your Identity in … Food

First things first.  This is a “fluff” blog today.  So please don’t get hung up that I don’t have a great spiritual takeaway.  Read today’s Crosswalk devotional for that.

I know that, as believers, our primary identity is in Christ.  We are sons and daughters, heirs of God, a chosen people, a royal priesthood.  This is not our home, and we’re just passing through.  But, hey … while we're still wearing our earth suits ... it’s fun to think about food and what preferences have to say about us.  Specifically, about our identities.

Take, for instance, ice cream.  Have you ever taken the ice cream personality test?  There are several of them out there on the Web.  So just surf around a bit, and you’ll find one. 

My favorite ice cream happens to be coffee.  A little different and a little off the beaten path, I guess.  Which is just like me.  Here’s what coffee ice cream people are said to be like:

As a coffee lover, you are lively, dramatic and flirtatious – thriving on the passion of the moment. Because you throw yourself into all that you do, you tend to be over-committed, starting new projects without finishing old ones. You tend to become bored by dull relationships and thrive on new and exciting ventures.

Well … hmmm … yep.  That’s pretty much on target, I’d have to say.  But what about other types of food? 

Well, I’m glad you asked.  I was just thinking along these lines earlier this morning, actually.  No joke.  One of the first thoughts that popped into my mind after waking up today was this:  “If I was a piece of candy, what kind would I be and why?”

Well, I knew my answer right away:  Three-course-dinner gum.  But of course! 

Remember that from Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (the 1970 film with Gene Wilder - not the creepy 2005 one)?  Violet Beauregarde, the uppity, gum-chewing champ, got to sample this unusual piece of candy while touring the factory.  But when she got to the third course (blueberry pie), she didn’t listen to instructions (hmmm, that sounds familiar) and chewed too fast and blew up like a giant blueberry.  Ewww.

Of course, as a three-course-dinner piece of gum, I would certainly not allow that to happen (I would be the “compassionate conservative” three-course-dinner gum). 

I think I liken myself to this piece of candy because I am multi-faceted and predictably unpredictable.  You might think you know what I'm going to say or do or that you're getting a standard, three-course-dinner:  meat, potatoes, pie.  And you’re done.

But you see, that’s when I throw a curve ball and instead … SERVE YOU FONDUE!  It’s the beauty of being my brand of three-course-dinner gum.

So what about you?  What type of candy would you be and why?  I know this is silly stuff I’m talking about today, but I think it could be a great conversation starter no matter where you are.  Stuck in an elevator, stuck on a boring date, stuck in carpool, stuck waiting in line.  You get the idea. 

Try asking others this fun question this evening.  And see if you don’t learn something new about them.  And yourself, for that matter.