Red Velvet Dilemma

At the end of a busy Tuesday, I stopped at Starbucks for a jolt of caffeine before picking my son up from daycare. To my delight and then Lenten dismay, I found that Starbucks had upgraded its selection of sweet treats. Cupcakes, caramel squares and other goodies looked too good to pass up, but remembering my no-chocolate rule, I was prepared to decline.

Then I saw them: Red Velvet Mini-Whoopie Pies. The perfect treat. I don't pass up whoopie pies—ever. And how lucky for me that they're not chocolate—or are they? Having considered this question before, I knew that the answer is ambiguous—from what I have read, recipes vary, but most do have cocoa.

But the real answer is, it doesn't matter. Having spent more time considering the value of Lenten sacrifices this year, I'm reminded that part of the purpose of giving something up is that the money you'd otherwise spend on such a treat should be given as charity. Additionally, we're encouraged to give up a particular kind of food in order to feel a sense of hunger and remind ourselves that the most important source of nourishment should be of a spiritual nature.

So whether or not red velvet is technically chocolate isn't really the issue. Paying $1.50 for that treat—or spending $5 the previous day on chipless chocolate chip cookies (yes, these exist, and even without chocolate, they are delicious) may not have violated the letter of my Lenten law, but it certainly didn't support the spirit of the law.

This is what I thought about as I savored my little red whoopie pie.