So I’m gluten-free. And you learn pretty quick as a gluten-free person that there are a lot of things that can be made gluten-free. But not everything should be made gluten-free.

For a while I was eating only things that wouldn’t have gluten anyway. You know, plenty of eggs and bacon but no biscuits or pancakes. Fruit and cheese but no crackers. But after a while I started trying “GF” anything. I tried GF cupcakes (sometimes good sometimes bad) and GF bread (Trader Joe’s all the way). I tried GF pizzas (hit or miss) and GF pancakes (fine). GF gingerbread cookies are do-able, GF pie crust just isn’t worth the time, and GF biscuits are always wrong.

As we enter this holiday season, I know a lot of folks making “pandemic” versions of favorite holiday traditions. Having Thanksgiving with the rest of the family on Zoom. Drive-in Christmas Caroling. Christmas Cookie swaps with drop-off and pick-up time frames. And the question that has arisen in my family and in my heart is what works gluten-free (read: pandemic) and what are we wasting our time trying to replicate – trying to substitute so many ingredients the final product isn’t what we wanted in the first place, the taste not quite there, the texture totally wrong. And what is it that doesn’t need substitution?

At the core of it, Christmas is about God. The Holiest of Holies, the Creator, the Great I Am, entering into this broken and dark world. Coming in a surprising and strange way, through the form of a child. Coming to bring light to darkness. Coming to bring the world closer to God.

There’s nothing about that that needs to be made gluten-free.

So what is it you’re spending your time on this holiday? And is it really worth it?

 

Jocelyn Wildhack is our Chaplain and Camp Director. She is soon to be ordained as a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA).