On Being Human: The Perfect Doughnut

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The people at Krispy Kreme Doughnuts are really into doughnuts. They know what a doughnut is supposed to be, and they aim for that. Can Americans say the same about developing themselves as human beings? Ted Papa ponders this question as he continues his reflections on the meaning of human life and, of all things, breakfast foods.

I had the privilege of living in the southern part of the U.S. this summer.

A pleasant change in my weekly routine was the destination of my Saturday morning doughnut run. Living in the Northeast for the last few years, I have had to settle for Dunkin’ Donuts (I think it was then called a “donut-run.”) This was an unspeakable disappointment after my brief stint in Canada, where Tim Horton’s doughnuts and exquisite coffee are easier to find than the local post office.

Anyway, I spent the summer in the South, and to my delight I discovered as near as you can get to perfection, doughnut-wise: Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (note the classical spelling of the pastry). From the gleaming brilliance and emerald-green roofs of their shops, to the white-coated bake staff in full view of the customers, to the glistening kitchen equipment and floors, the whole place conveys one message: these people are serious about doughnuts.

And then there’s the pastries themselves … What strikes one is not so much the odd doughnut—but that Krispy Kreme’s concept of a doughnut is about as near perfection as you can get. The size, the shape, the texture and taste of the “kreme”—one must scratch his head to find something to improve. All that is left is implementation, and, as I mentioned, no other restaurant evokes the efficiency and precision of a chemistry lab like Krispy Kreme.

Why all this attention to doughnuts, in a column about human beings? (Or, you might ask, why all this attention to breakfast foods—given my previous article?)

My weekly reflections on Krispy Kreme’s pursuit of the metaphysically perfect doughnut led me to ask the question: do we in the United States have as clear an idea of what a human being is, as Krispy Kreme has of the doughnut? And the logical rejoinder: are we as single-minded in our effort to foster that “perfect human,” as our pastry-making counterparts are with respect to their wares?

You might say, “A doughnut is a lot easier to make than a human being.” But is a Lockheed-Martin jet, or a citywide sewage system, or a worldwide instant communications system—or all of these put together? The point is, as a society we choose where we want to put our attention, whether it be fighter jets, computers, metaphysically perfect doughnuts—or human beings.

A phrase in common parlance that I enjoy is the one said of a particularly unique, quirky, or eccentric person: “They threw away the mold when they made that one.” Something unrepeatable, and indeed unrecoverable, went into the making of that person. I find myself asking the same question with respect to Western society: Have we thrown away the “mold” of the human person? Do we know what a truly mature, developed, loving human being looks like any more? In an intimately related question, do we know what a family looks like? Do we, as a society, even care? (At least as much as the shift manager at Krispy Kreme?)

The great St. Augustine once wrote of this misplaced attention with respect to our humanity: "And men go abroad to admire the heights of mountains, the mighty billows of the sea, the long course of rivers, the vast compass of the ocean, and the circular motion of the stars, and yet pass themselves by".

Would not a modern-day Augustine have referred to doughnuts and jets and microbiology labs and day-traders and fiber-optic cables?

Fortunately, for those of us who do choose to take off our bakers’ hats and redirect our attention to the perfecting of the human person himself, we have some help. For Christians, we need look no further than the God we worship, who became man. A passage that Pope John Paul II has repeatedly called “the single most important passage from the entire Second Vatican Council,” points the way:

"In reality it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of man truly becomes clear … Christ the Lord, Christ the new Adam, in the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and of His love, fully reveals man to Himself, and brings to light his most high calling" (Gaudium et Spes, n. 22).

In coming essays, we will investigate this “perfection” of the human person—his “most high calling,” the “ingredients” that go into his perfection, and what we have “thrown away”—or perhaps, more accurately, forgotten—in our present-day conception of the human being.

In the mean time (at least for you Southerners), you can find Krispy Kreme under “K” in the white pages!

What do you think? Email Ted Papa with your comments at papa@silaspartners.com.

Ted Papa is serving as the Vatican correspondent for Christianity.com while he pursues his S.T.L. degree at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. He has nearly 20 years’ experience in Catholic publishing, including management positions with The Word Among Us Magazine and Harmony Media, Inc., a Catholic software company. He recently completed a master’s in sacred theology degree at the John Paul II Institute for Studies in Marriage and Family in Washington, D.C.