A recent issue of “The Week” magazine reported on a Florida couple who celebrates their anniversary every year by eating a piece of their original wedding cake. The cake is now sixty years old.
The couple, Ann and Ken Fredericks, celebrated their latest anniversary by having a piece of the three-layer, frosted fruitcake. They have kept the cake in a coffee can since their wedding in 1955.
They admit that the cake is “a little dry.” Ann, who is 81 years old, claims that her husband always moistens it with brandy before taking a bite. She commented further, “Our children are appalled that we would be eating something that’s 60 years old, but believe me, it’s quite tasty, as long as it’s got enough brandy on it.” (The Week, Sept. 4, 2015, page 12)
When I read that, I thought about the Gospel story of Jesus attending a wedding in Cana. We don’t know that fruitcake was on the menu, but they did run out of refreshments. But his presence that day made all the difference because he turned water into wine.
You know, it is a good idea to invite Jesus to our weddings. In fact, it is a good idea to invite him to every significant event in our lives because his holy presence makes a difference. He can turn water into wine. Sadness into joy. Anxiety into peace. Darkness into light.
He said it like this, “I have come that they might have life, life in all its fullness.” (John 10:10)
An old piece of doctored fruitcake. Celebrating a happy event. Water into wine. May it happen for us today through Christ our Lord.