Page 38 - Dainfern Precinct Living Issue 8 2025

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

COMMITMENT &

CHOCOLATE

B Y PETER S T OFFBERG

know someone who doesn’t like chocolate. Just one person.
Asking almost any other human being if they like chocolate
I is silly, it’s better to ask which sort they prefer. It may be
the sweeter kind with chewy textures and contrasting flavours,
or perhaps the pure, dark stuff with its complex bitter sweet
balance.
Good chocolate, regardless of the variation, consists primarily
of cocoa butter and cocoa powder combined in a precise
temperature-controlled process. This is critical because chocolate
hardens through the formation of up to six different types of
crystal structures, depending on the temperature and speed of
cooling. Only two of these forms result in a smooth-textured, firm,
and great tasting final product. The presence of the other crystal
forms can quickly spread and wreck the whole structure, leaving
nothing but a sad and expensive mess.

Committed relationships are like chocolate, they also thrive on
purity, the slightest compromise can initiate a process of sad
and costly deterioration. It was a blessing to witness this kind of
unadulterated and uncommon commitment at a recent wedding
our family attended. The couple not only vowed to forsake all
others and devote themselves to each other for life – but had
done so all their lives up to that point. This may be old fashioned,
unpopular and difficult, but statistically, it is still the best
foundation for a permanent marriage commitment.
In our modern context, we have so many choices that we avoid
making commitments out of fear of missing out on something
better. This fear of missing out drives our decisions, keeps ON SITE SUNDAY SERVICES @ 9h30
us glued to news feeds and social media, and tempts us to www.familychurch.online
compromise our relationships. This same technological and DAINFERN COLLEGE AUDITORIUM
global context exposes us to many different religious traditions,
rituals and festivities. Participation in these rituals and
festivities seems harmless, and these events promise a sense of
community and connectedness which we are afraid to miss out
on - but are they a compromise? and wait for the most exciting options to present themselves. Our
faith is a commitment to an exclusive loving relationship with our
Our faith is not something we can mix and match, hang back on, Creator, lived out on His terms, and He provides His own rituals
and community (1 Corinthians 10:21).
Relationships, like chocolate, work better with commitment. This
is a timeless principle - please think about it as you consider the
myriad of choices you’re faced with today.

36 DPL issue 8 2025