“I was bustling through another Christmas season, grumbling to my self about all I was spending and what a nuisance the malls were, until one evening I came home, exhausted, finally finished, just a few days before Christmas day. I retrieved the mail, only to find, amongst credit card bills and junk mail, a heavy parcel, almost like a cinderblock, if they made them squishy. With a grim face I read the return address: it was my sister-in-law, for whom I had just purchased an expensive angora sweater that had cost me upwards of a hundred dollars of my hard-earned Christmas bonus. That was it for me – I just snapped. Shoving the rest of the mail aside, I grabbed the ponderous package and took it into the kitchen. I turned on the garbage disposal and torn open the package, ready to destroy the fruitcake that I knew was inside. Just above the fruitcake, however, was a piece of paper that read:

‘The humble fruitcake is a dessert that, like the followers of our saviour Jesus Christ, is often despised despite its sweet nature. It is unfortunate, however, that so many feel this way, because in reality, a fruitcake is very similar to any of the human beings on God’s green earth.

The brown cake is our flesh, which was originally wrought by god’s hands from the dust. Though it is sometimes bitter, it is moist and thick, symbolizing the labor and blood of human existence.

The nuts are little crunchy bits of sin that exist in all of us, since, like the fruitcake, we are made with sin inside of us, and only a higher power can take it out of us – provided we (or the fruitcake) let Him.

The bright fruits represent the joys of life that God gives us to uplift us, like flowers, babies, and puppies. The red cherries are especially important, because they represent the blood Jesus Christ shed to free us from sin.

The entire fruitcake is baked until it has a firm crust, similar to our skin, but possibly more similar to the shield that many place between themselves and God. As we do with the fruitcake, God needs to cut off a slice of us before the meaty insides and beautiful, tasty fruits are exposed to Him. Some people are baked too long, and as a result are impervious to God’s love, so their tough skin and blinded minds eventually lead them to eternal suffering in hell, just as many an overdone fruitcakes are subjected to the trash can, garbage disposal or family dog.

So, next time you receive a fruitcake, don’t cast it aside with scorn – where would we be if God had done that to us? Instead, enjoy the fruitcake, share it with your friends and family, and remember what it represents – not only ourselves, but the lord Jesus Christ, whose birth is not only the sole, undisputed reason for Christmas, but also the reason that we have fruitcakes today.’

A tear trickled down my cheek as I finished reading the note. All this time I had been rushing through Christmas like it was a chore, when I had forgotten the real meaning behind it all. The Christmas joy began to bloom in my heart and, as I finished cramming the fruitcake down the disposal and started preparing the sweater to return to the store, I vowed that I would never look at Christmas, or a fruitcake for that matter, in the same way again.

Is your skin too thick? Do you have too many nuts and not enough fruits? This e-mail is much lighter than a fruitcake, and much cheaper to send to those you love. Send this to ten people before Christmas and the baby Jesus will smile on your family on that special day.

By Edith D. Helena snopes@snopes.com