Gelato > Ice Cream

About a month ago, I went to Europe for the first time ever! I spent two weeks traipsing through Spain (Barcelona & Madrid), and Italy (Rome , Florence, Tuscany, Sienna, Venice) .  Since returning back home, everyone keeps asking me about my favorite part of the trip, and what I liked most.  And sure, I know the generic answer should be something along the lines of “oh well La Sagrada Familia was just breathtaking”, and “The Sistine Chapel was so mesmerizing that I blacked out briefly and a guard had to take a break between saying “no photos, no videos” to help me”, or “The David was sensational, I spent 30 minutes just contemplating how you could possibly take an undesirable  piece of marble and carve in such real looking veins on a hand! “. But instead my answer has been “When I was in Italy, I ate gelato everyday, if not twice a day, and it was stupendous!" 

That’s right folks. That was the highlight of my trip, because I was just expecting ice cream masked in a fancy Italian name. But oh no, there was a continuous party in my mouth, so much so that I am on a mission today to explain to you that not only is gelato different from ice cream, but it is SO MUCH BETTER! 

Have you ever come across this situation in other aspects of your life? Where you saw two things that on the surface seemed identical, but just had a different name? What about happiness and joy? Are they the same? Is joy just a fancier way to describe happiness? In short, no. Here's why. Ice Cream : Happiness as Gelato: Joy.  In case it’s been awhile since taking SAT verbal section, let’s quickly unpack this analogy and explain once and for all why Gelato > Ice Cream and Joy >Happiness .

#1 Better Ingredients = better for you

Gelato:  As you can see in the chart below, gelato not only has less sugar (including Nutella) and less fat (cream) than ice cream, but also tastes richer and creamier than ice cream because it contains egg yolks!

From a nutritional perspective, gelato is also way better for you (240 calories , 16g fat and 19g sugar vs 340 calories, 21g fat, 34g sugar for ice cream), relatively speaking of course :) .

Joy:   The ingredients for joy are simple and inexpensive whereas the ingredients for happiness are complex and expensive. With happiness, it is created as a byproduct of favorable circumstances (going on vacation, getting a promotion, watching a funny movie, front row tickets to see Redskins play, or buying the iPhone4). With joy, however, there aren’t endless ingredients, but instead just one: The Holy Spirit (Psalm 51:11-12; Galatians 5:22; 1 Thessalonians 1:6). The Holy Spirit is able to produce joy in a person because the Holy Spirit actively lives inside all people who have accepted Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior. (1 Corinthians 3:16, Romans 8:9, Ephesians 1:13-14, John 14:16-17)

#2 Better Process (Doesn’t Require Addition of External Items)

Gelato:  Gelato, unlike ice cream, doesn’t need to resort to relying on adding external items (ex. Air) during the freezing process. Instead, gelato is just inherently awesome stand alone, and thus can allow the ingredients ALONE to work their magic during the freezing process.  Many ice cream producers try and produce better products by experiment adding different amounts of air  (20%-50%) to make the product lighter and possibly more desirable to consumers. Little do they know that they can never outsmart gelato, whose process results in a more dense, more intense flavor product every day of the week!

Joy: Without air you don’t have ice cream, and without favorable circumstances you can’t have happiness. Think about how easily happiness can disappear when circumstances are changed slightly (i.e. food poisoning on vacation, longer hours as a result of promotion, choking on popcorn during funny movie, ref recalling final Redskins touch down, iPhone 4 dropping calls mid intense convo with your significant other). 

In contrast, without air you still have gelato and without favorable circumstances you can still have joy. We know joy can withstand crummy circumstances because in the Bible, many characters are recorded as experiencing joy in the midst of suffering..."We rejoice in our sufferings." Romans 5:3, "You received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit." Thessalonians 1:6, "In a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have over flowed in a wealth of liberality."2 Corinthians 8:2... In fact, Paul, who underwent beatings, imprisonments, sleepless nights, hunger, and countless other types of suffering, described himself as "sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything." 2 Corinthians 6:10.

#3 Creates an Experience Worth Sharing

Gelato: When was the last time you asked someone how their weekend was and they replied with "Well I got some ice cream this past weekend!"? I'm guessing almost never... Why? Because it's on par with saying you did laundry, pumped gas, surfed the Internet, or brushed your teeth. No one wants to hear about the mundane, ordinary, and routine parts of your life. But an experience with Gelato is worth sharing! Who wouldn’t want to hear about the rich creamy texture of the Nutella flavored ice cream that melted in my mouth??…Who wouldn’t want to hear about the fresh and intensely flavored Mango Gelato that led me to an internal struggle over a 2^nd serving when my mind was telling me no,  but my bod-eeee was telling me yeahhh-he-heh. 

Joy:  Yes we tell our friends every now and then about how we bought a new car and it made us happy, but it’s not front page headlines.  But what newspaper wouldn’t want to report about a time when a person, in spite of all the terrible circumstances surrounding them, was able to experience joy?  The Bible certainly did, check out what the apostle Paul went through

^"Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked,  I spent a night and a day in the open sea,  I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers.  I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.  Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. " 2 Corinthians 11:24-28

So did Paul still have joy in spite of this? Yes…

^“I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.  I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:10-13

The reason this makes for such an interesting news story it that it is very counter-intuitive that joy can be present and increase in the midst of circumstances… so what’s the secret? How can we experience joy and not have to settle for happiness? As I’ve already alluded to, you have to be on Team God to even have access to joy. Secondly, you need to understand that joy is deeply rooted in hope. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13. I’ll try and address this idea of hope in a future post.

In the mean time, do yourself a favor and create some happiness for yourself by indulging in some delicious gelato. If you live in the DC area, I recommend going to Bocatto in Clarendon. If you live in NYC, go to Grom. If  you want the world's best gelato,  I recommend traveling to Italy and going to  Giolitti’s in Rome or Pluripremiata Gelateria in Tuscany.