Time Capsules and Cookie Books
On Saturday, September 6th, the City of Bethlehem held a celebration of the Moravian Church Settlements- Bethlehem inscription to the World Heritage List.
There would be the unveiling of the UNESCO World Heritage Plaque, free tours of all the inscribed sites, a traditional Moravian lovefeast and last but not least, the burial of a time capsule, to be opened upon the 50th anniversary of the inscription.
Elementary school children at the event would be able to fill out a card to include their own hopes and vision for the City in the next 50 years and it would be added to the capsule.
As CEO of the Bethlehem Area Moravians (Parent Company of Moravian Village and Owner of many of the inscribed sites), I was asked to include things to represent the Bethlehem Community, that we would like the historians of the future to know about us.
I included two books, which I believe encompasses what the BAM Organization stands for.
The first, a book titled Let Us Go Over to Bethlehem, written by Rev. Dr. Douglas Caldwell, Rev. Carol Reifinger and a special foreword by Barbara Caldwell. It also had commentary from Bishop Hopeton Clennon.
The book details the history of many of the world heritage sites, the formation of the BAM Organization, including its affiliate companies, Moravian Development Corporation and Moravian Village of Bethlehem and is a good guide for the Moravian Faith and Mission.
The writers of this book played instrumental roles in the World Heritage process. Unfortunately, with the exception of Rev. Reifinger, the rest of the authors did not live to see their dream of World Heritage success come to fruition. It was important for us to remember these individuals, and we wanted to include their book for future generations.
For the second item, I really wanted something to reflect the people who make up our Communities in the BAM Organization. World Heritage is more than old buildings and sites, rather it is the Community, its traditions and what they hold dear and what they love that makes up an area’s Heritage.
There was no better example of this in my eyes than a Moravian Village of Bethlehem’s Resident released cookbook called Sweet Indulgences, or otherwise affectionately known as The Cookie Book.
This was a grass roots effort by a handful of residents at Moravian Village to put together a book of recipes of the resident’s favorite desserts. The proceeds of the funds would be used to improve the lives and provide comfort to the Residents of Moravian Village.
I think the authors’ preface to the book shows why this was the perfect choice for inclusion.
The recipes collected within this book reflect the richness of the contributors whose extensive life experiences, drawn from teaching, ministry, medicine, military, nursing, business and counseling fields, as well as the seasoned tastes developed while living and traveling in far locales. It is said that humans live by stories, but it is also widely accepted that cookies can solve a lot of problems.
I couldn’t agree more with this. The Cookie Book is more than just a recipe book. The recipes represent the life experiences of our Residents and the expressions of their love through family recipes, many of which have been handed down through generations.
They shared this love with each other and the greater Community in the hope of helping even more individuals.
Although many of our residents come from very varied backgrounds, there is a universal commonality expressed in these recipes that all people have the same hopes and dreams, wants and fears, and we have much more in common with each other, than what we do not.
50 years from now when the historians open this time capsule and see this simple cookbook, it is our hope they understand its true message, that with a little understanding, love and compassion, and a certain amount of home baked cookies, the World would be a much kinder place.
Dan Soos, CPA
Chief Executive Officer
Moravian Village of Bethlehem