Raspberry Ice Cream and the Meaning of Life

I have long believed that it is fortunate for the more plebeian lovers of vanilla, chocolate or strawberry ice cream that raspberry ice cream was not the first flavor of ice cream developed. For if raspberry ice cream would have been the first, there would have been no need for additional flavors. The reason is obvious; you cannot improve on perfection. There is no epicurean delight to compare with the experience of raspberry ice cream. It makes my taste buds dance like happy little bunnies celebrating the dawning of a spring morning. To me it is the perfect food; faultless in texture, pleasing in color and magnificent in taste. I like raspberry ice cream.

In addition to their use ice cream, raspberries have given pleasure to the human palate since prehistoric times. They are used in pastries, soups, salads, jellies, sauces and mousses. The ancient Romans enjoyed this fruit while watching contests in The Coliseum. While on their quests to the Middle East, the Crusaders stumbled across these delightful berries and were so taken by them that they brought them back to Europe. There are over 200 varieties of raspberry. Red raspberries originated in Asia Minor and black raspberries are native to North America. The English took seriously the improvement of the raspberry and eventually exported the plants to the United States. Some cultures consider raspberries aphrodisiacs and other civilizations use raspberry tea to calm upset stomachs.

Raspberries also have a place in popular American culture. Fans of comedy are familiar with the sound of the “raspberry tart.” Referring to the verbal taunt, the Merriam Webster Dictionary delicately defines a raspberry tart “as a sound of contempt made by protruding the tongue between the lips and expelling air forcibly to produce a vibration.” Each year The Golden Raspberry Award Foundation bestows The Razzie awards. According to their website,

Starting with an Oscar Night ceremony so small it was actually staged in a living room alcove, The Golden Raspberry (RAZZIE) Awards have grown into what E! On-Line recently called, "the foremost authority on all things that suck on the big screen." Annually presenting Dis-Honors for Worst Achievements in Film since 1980 in categories ranging from the obvious (Worst Picture, Actor and Actress) to the obtuse (Worst Remake or Sequel and Worst Screen Couple) The RAZZIES today receive television, radio and newspaper coverage around the world.[1]

In the 1970’s, The Raspberries, with most notable member Eric Carmen, scored hits with “Go All The Way (1972)” and “Overnight Sensation (1974).” Finally, a first degree abrasion, the kind that happens from a scrape or fall, is often referred to as “a raspberry.” In more ways than one, raspberries are all around us. Beyond the gastronomical delights and practical uses of raspberries, they also serve well as a lesson for life. The excellence of the “berry of the gods” is allegorical to our struggle in this life.

Many people settle for second best because they are not aware that anything better is possible. They live lives of quiet resignation, settling for strawberry because raspberry is not available at their local ice cream parlor. They live in bondage to their pain because they have not heard of the one who has come “to proclaim freedom for the prisoners.”[2] They settle for superficial relationships because they do not understand the depth of commitment than can exist between two friends who center their relationship in the Father’s love.[3] These poor souls marginalize their own significance because they compare themselves with others instead of embracing their identity as a child who the Heavenly Father loves. Some even try to earn a salvation that has already been secured by the redemptive work of Christ. They live what they know because another option has never been offered.

Not all tragedy stems from ignorance. While many can be no more than they know, others will be no more than their resignation allows. Theirs is not a lack of knowledge; theirs is a lack of motivation. Raspberry ice cream is a freezer staple in the Northeast; here in Kansas it is as foreign as a day without wind. To be a devotee of a locally nonexistent flavor is a hard thing. To live differently in this world is to follow a hard path. To reject the cynicism and self-absorption of our culture is to walk apart from the mainstream. It requires a certain amount of character to be the only one in line who does not order a chocolate cone. Jesus encourages his followers to count the cost because following him is costly.[4] As Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes in his masterwork The Cost of Discipleship, “When Christ calls a man he bids him ‘Come and die.” Christ calls us to die to the status quo and to instead live for something better.

So what is a raspberry lover to do in a vanilla world? How do we live in the abundant love of a caring Heavenly Father in a cruel, cold world? That’s easy: share the wealth. Just a Paul shared with the Corinthian Church, we have the privilege to pass on to others what we have received from the Father. To those who are poor in spirit, we can share the love the Father lavishes on us. To those imprisoned by their past, we can proclaim the true freedom of a life redeemed. When we meet those who are blind to themselves and to others, we can witness to the truth of the Father’s perspective on their lives. To those who are oppressed by sin, we can declare the immediacy of the Lord’s favor. There is a reason that it is called “Good News.” At the ice cream counter of life, the Father does not offer us a small scoop of vanilla in a paper cup. He offers us a triple scoop of raspberry ice cream in a waffle cone.

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[1] http://razzies.com/asp/content/XcNewsPlus.asp?cmd=view&articleid=8 accessed February 20, 2004.

[2] Luke 4:18.

[3] I Samuel 20:42.

[4] Luke 14:25-33.