A Christmas Sled Dog Tale

    Since I posted pictures from Christmas Day, I thought I'd post a story I wrote about that time as well. It was originally intended for Hunter, but I didn't get it done in time...

    Banshe and the Candycane

    Banshe laid her head on the door of her dog house and let her eyes close partway. This was not her first Christmas Eve, the magical feeling in the air no longer kept her awake long past midnight. And yet, she felt as if there was something missing – as if she should be quivering with excitement, maybe even running around barking like the other dogs. But what can I have forgotten? She wondered.

    She retraced her memories, trying to remember.

    One of her earliest Christmas’, she’d seen the people of the house eating candy canes. Perhaps it was the story of the candy cane. That special, Christmas time candy looked so pretty against the green tree and frosted windows. She’d often told the younger dogs how, and why, they were made. Each time, she began the story:

    “Far below us, in the temperate climate of Indiana a two-legged candy-maker sat wondering what type of candy he could invent to remind people of the real meaning of Christmas…”

    Banshe felt as if she were getting closer and allowed the story to replay through her mind:

    “The candy cane was the result of his work; containing several symbols of the birth, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

    “White is the color used to portray the Virgin Birth and sinless nature of Jesus.

    “The candy is hard, just as God is the Solid Rock on which we stand and the foundation of the Church. It also reminds us of how firmly we can believe the promises of God.”

    Excitement coursed through her, she was remembering!

    “We all know,” she would say, “that the candy cane is in the form of a “J” for Jesus, who came to earth as Savoir, but it also represents the staff of our Good Shepherd with which He reaches down to reclaim us, the fallen lambs who have gone astray.

    “But there’s a problem, the candy-maker thought. The candy is much too plain.

    “After much thought, he decided to stain it with white stripes. Three small stripes representing the scourging Jesus received…”

    Banshe stopped, feeling that she would never sleep again if she couldn’t remember the rest. She paced around her dog house once, twice, three times…it’d been such a long year since she told the story to the puppies. How could she have forgotten?

    All night she thought and thought. And then, with the brilliance of sunrise, she remembered…and wondered how she could ever have forgotten.

    “The large red stripe was for the blood shed by Christ on the cross so that each man could have an opportunity to accept the promise of eternal life.”

    Banshe lay down in her house once more, warmed by the memory. For, at last, she had remembered: though Christmas celebrates Jesus Christ’s birth, it was only the beginning of God’s plan to save mankind from their sins.

    And that is what makes Christmas special.

Banshe