I was interviewed at a church event last Sunday and was asked (amongst other things) what my favourite cake is. I had been given notice that I would be asked this question so I had had a chance to think about my answer. I thought about all of the wonderful cakes that my wife bakes. I thought about our wedding cake (because of the event it celebrated more than the taste, although it was a nice fruit cake). And then I remembered some cupcakes that Grandma used to make.

On the face of it they were nothing special. They were not going to be showstoppers on a certain competitive baking TV show. But they were lovely. They were simple vanilla sponge cupcakes. But just before they went into the oven Grandma would put a chunk of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate into each one.

During the cooking process the chunk of chocolate would make its way to the bottom of the cupcake. If you were lucky enough to be at Grandma’s soon after they had come out of the oven (and had cooled enough to eat) you had the experience of a wonderful melted piece of chocolate in the middle of the cupcake. But if they had cooled you had a different experience – a lovely solid chunk of chocolate to eat your way around until it was all you had left and could finally eat on its own (unless your sister distracted you and nicked it!).

There was no spiritual point to being asked about favourite cakes at the church event. It was a gentle lead-in to other questions about my new role and followed neatly from a time when we’d all had tea and cakes.

So let me make a brief point now: we can all find unexpected blessing in the ordinary – like a chunk of chocolate at the bottom of a vanilla cupcake. The question is whether we will ignore what seems ordinary and miss out on the joy and blessing concealed within.

Anyone for church?

Be blessed, be a blessing