"Cake Boss" and the Family of God

image found on inquisitr.com

          My wife enjoys watching the show “Cake Boss.” I watch it with her on occasion. It’s a fun reality show about an Italian family that runs a bakery in Hoboken, NJ. We get to see how Buddy, Jr., the “cake boss” lead his bakery employees (mostly, if not all, members of his family) as he creatively meets the demands of custom cakes by clients, and we also get to see the highlights of family gatherings (e.g. their homecoming to Little Ferry, NJ).

          There was one particular series of episodes that really piqued our curiosity: the family trip to Italy. They had a big (and sometimes tearful) reunion, showing video footage of late family members and got a tour of the old homes, bakeries and churches of the family’s past from the older generations. It pretty much made my wife wish she was Italian.

          But it was really fascinating and difficult for us to imagine a world where our customs, religion, vocational passion, nationalism, and so much of what seems to make up our identity seems to be all strongly consolidated in the family. This is hard to imagine for Americans like myself as we walk through places like New York’s Chinatown or Chicago’s Greektown. Could you imagine an Americatown in say, Canada, China or Poland?

          Myself, I’m a composite of four different European nationalities, and my wife has a strong Scottish background but doesn’t quite know all of her nationality makeup (her late grandmother was adopted). And, for the most part, we come from families who are also “mixed European,” tread lightly on respective European national traditions and live all across our diverse country of the free. 

          Strong traditions and ties are good. They inadvertently uphold love, community, pride and unity, but it’s even better to celebrate being in the family of God. We’re quite the diverse family in locations, customs, etc., but what unites us is far more absolute and glorious than established tradition.

          So, how are you going to celebrate the family today? I wish I could take mine to Italy.