Page 49 - Dainfern Precinct Living June 2022

Food for thought

THE UNUSUAL CASE

OF THE SWEDISH FISH

BY PETER STOFFBERG

hey Look innocuous but their simple
appearance belies the potentially life-altering
Texperience locked inside them. A friend
introduced me to these little red sweets this week
and they certainly are difficult to stop eating. They
may not actually be life-changing, but given that
more than US$100 million worth of ‘Swedish Fish’ are
sold annually, they’re certainly making an impact on
someone. Perhaps you know that someone?
Their name doesn’t conjure up anything more
exotic than their plain appearance and neither does
the rather bland tale of their origin. This gummy
confection originated in Sweden in the 1950s - where
the prominent role of fishing in that nation’s GDP
probably accounts for their shape. They’re completely
ordinary in every way apart from their taste and oddly
compelling texture.
My family loved them without knowing anything
about them and so I don’t believe that any change in
name, colour or shape would diminish their unique
value or allure. How many things can make that
claim in this day and age? Price and perceived value
are determined by marketing campaigns. Identity is
created, and value is attached to that identity. That’s
true for products and, increasingly, for people. So who
determines what we are, and are we really only worth
what others think of us?

In the Bible, Jesus’s disciple, John, never mentions ON SITE SUNDAY SERVICES @ 9h30
his own name in his account of the life, death and www.familychurch.online
resurrection of Jesus. Instead, he refers to himself as
‘the disciple Jesus loved’. This has been misunderstood DAINFERN COLLEGE AUDITORIUM
as implying that John thought Jesus loved him more
than the others, but the truth is very different. For
John, his own identity did not come from his name, God’s love for us in Jesus, then our identity cannot be
culture, occupation or even his reputation. His identity changed nor can our value be diminished, ever. This
came from the fact that Jesus loved him. The love of realisation, unlike the Swedish Fish tasting experience,
God through Jesus identified John, it defined him and really is life-changing. If it’s true, then we no longer
gave him his value. need to strive to create and update an identity to find
fleeting acceptance in the ever-changing landscape
If our identity and value, like John’s, is defined by of the 21 century. Instead, we can focus all our
st
energy on trusting God to make us more like Jesus,
in gratitude for His great love for us. We will not only
have a new appreciation of our own value, but of the
value of everyone else as well.

I can’t tell you where you can get Swedish Fish, but I
can tell you that Galatians chapter three in the Bible
offers a far deeper insight into this life-changing
concept of identity and value.
May God bless you.

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