Pastor-Eye-zzed: Of Faith
and Cinnamon Rolls

cinnamon roll

What do faith and cinnamon rolls have in common? Well, if ‘life is like a box of chocolates’ why can’t faith be like a plate cinnamon rolls? Am I deep or what?

We were in Jerome Arizona. Jerome is a great town up in the mountains of Arizona. From all accounts it was once a rip-snorting, rough and ready mining town in the 1800’s, but eventually it became pretty much an empty ghost town until the 1960’s. It was then that the flower children discovered it. They soon moved in or ‘squatted,’ depending on your perspective, and started living in Jerome. Of course, as soon as the town started to fill up, those who had abandoned it remembered that they owned it, and they decided it was time to start charging rent or expecting buy-outs.

Well, to make a long story short, the creativity and the optimism of the 1960’s won out as the new residents started up small business to pay the bills and tourism went through the roof. Many of those hippies still live there and Jerome is now the third largest tourist attraction in Arizona—after the Grand Canyon and Sedona. I love this story because it has the feel of frontier risk and opportunity. But, more than that, to take something lost and give it a second chance is downright Christian, is it not? Christ is all about taking that which is lost and giving it new life, but I digress.

While we were there, we had to do the most essential thing any traveller has to do—no, not that! Remember that I am from Canada and the most essential thing for Canadian travellers is that we find GOOD coffee. We went to a place that my buddy Rick knew of, but alas it was closed. I almost started to panic, but the high altitude and lack of caffeine made panicking too difficult. Thankfully, next door and down a few steps was this little shop that you could easily walk by without noticing. This harbinger of delight is called “Gisel’s Café and Bakery.”

I personally believe our discovery was guided by the Lord Himself because the cinnamon rolls we had were nothing short of ‘divine’. I mean the frosting alone was heavenly—not to mention pure white. But, even though it was clearly ‘slathered on’ (no other description is apt) it still didn’t overpower the cinnamon glee that lay beneath its billows. It was the perfect balance of coma-inducing baked brilliance. My friends, I have found the holy grail of cinnamon rolls and it is found in Jerome Arizona. Cinnabon, you sir, are a fraud!

We had to stay there for a while because they were sold out of cinnamon rolls and a fresh batch was just about to come out of the oven. The smell was incredible! Usually I hate to wait, but in this case I was able to make an exception. We passed the time by talking with Jeff Hall (the co-owner of Gisele’s with his wife Coleen). Jeff told us that they were originally from Grand Rapid’s MI, but on a summer vacation a few years ago, they both came to Jerome and, after twenty minutes of being there, they decided to pick up and move clear across the country and start a new life in Jerome.

Part of their desire for a new life came from the fact that Coleen’s mom, Gisele had recently passed away from ALS. Gisele originally came from Casablanca, but then moved to the US in 1945. It had always been Gisele and Coleen’s dream to open up a bake shop, but unfortunately Gisele never fully realized that dream. Thankfully, Jeff and Coleen have—using all of Gisele’s original recipes. Now Gisele is honoured by her family living out her dream, and as a result, the heavenly aroma of Grisele’s baking continues to draw people in.

But, the point I want you to think about is simply this: A new life grasped with both hands in honour of a great love and a wonderful dream is as apt a description of the Christian life as any other I have heard. We too, like Jeff and Coleen, are to leave our home and travel on our journey of faith. We too are to find new life living the dream of God’s New Community. We too are to fill our own world with the heavenly aroma of God’s recipe for life. So, what are you waiting for? Start grasping your new life with both hands. Drop the remote. Drop the wallet. Drop the blackberry and grab the new life with BOTH HANDS. What’s that smell? Now you’re cookin’!


“Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation—an aroma redolent with life.” 2 Corinthians 2:15 (MSG)


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