Take That Gift Back!

Michelangelo's Piata

Good thing I wasn’t the mother of Jesus! Had a wise man given my toddler myrrh, I might have shoved it into the giver’s hand, and shouted “Take that gift back!” Myrrh? Burial spice? An appropriate baby gift? 

I’ve thought a lot about Mary’s pondering…so much so that I asked hubby to look up “ponder” in the original language and context of that Scripture. One definition read “conflict.” Indeed Mary must have wrestled, knowing her newborn came into the world to die. Of course, all of us eventually die, but how many mothers’ thoughts go there while beholding their newborn?

Over the years I’ve known three women who received dooming news before their babies’ births. They still looked forward to holding their little ones but shed many tears. They cradled with hearts humming lullabies in minor keys. They treasured each moment with a mourning love. Sobering.

Mary likely felt the way those moms did. No, she didn’t return the myrrh. She accepted it, knowing her son would need it. What must have been awful for her and Jesus? Thirty-three years later beholding each other from different vantage points of that cross...the moment they both dreaded yet accepted, knowing the will of The Father.

Good thing Mary accepted that gift, and grateful The Son Of God did too. He rose again to give us all another gift~eternal life. I chose that gift when I asked Jesus into my life, and there's no taking that back. I'm His child for keeps. Hallelujah!

Christmas & Kinfolk

Family~kin or kinfolk we call them here in Kentucky. Although Jersey-born, I love that term so much more than relatives or relations.

As we celebrate the birth of The Son of God, I'm reminded of the bond I share with Him through adoption~when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Kinsman Redeemer. If you've received Him as your Savior, you're also adopted...and we're kin!

We used to sing There's a Song in the Air, a carol nearly lost today. Those lyrics penned by Josiah G. Holland~one of my kin from eons ago~I now share with you. Blessed Christmas!

There’s a song in the air! There’s a star in the sky!
There’s a mother’s deep prayer and a baby’s low cry!
And the star rains its fire while the beautiful sing,
For the manger of Bethlehem cradles a King!
               There’s a tumult of joy o’er the wonderful birth,
               For the virgin’s sweet Boy is the Lord of the earth.
               Ay! the star rains its fire while the beautiful sing,
               For the manger of Bethlehem cradles a King!
                              In the light of that star lie the ages impearled;
                              And that song from afar has swept over the world.
                              Every hearth is aflame, and the beautiful sing
                              In the homes of the nations that Jesus is King!
                                             We rejoice in the light, and we echo the song
                                             That comes down through the night from the heavenly throng.
                                             Ay! we shout to the lovely evangel they bring,
                                            And we greet in His cradle our Savior and King!

Facing The Holidays~Part Two

Continued from last week's post...

Each reader has his own story to tell. For some this is your first holiday season since being falsely accused, and you’re probably in the same frame of mind as were we. Life remains forever altered, but it does go on. We all grieve. We all must, yet each handles grief in his own way and time. If you need to shed tears, do. We did, and in doing so gave our boys the liberty to hurt and cry as well. What a release! What a gift!

I believe God grieved that very first Christmas two millenniums ago. He knew His Son faced rejection, ridicule, false accusations, and death. For the first time I empathized with Jesus and understood how greatly He felt our pain. 

If you’re of the Jewish faith, your celebration centers on a miracle as well. The Maccabees fought against a wicked tyrannical king. They won, reclaiming Jerusalem. The Temple needed cleansing. There they witnessed the miracle of one day’s oil supply lasting eight. Hanukkah—a wonderful reminder of hope amongst impossible hardships!

Miracles exist, bringing with them the promise of hope and peace. Looking toward your holiday may bring emotions you never associated with it before. That’s okay. Remember—the ones who lived through those holy days went through the same feelings you have now. They grieved yet survived to tell their stories. So have many others! So will you!

(originally published November 1999)

Facing The Holidays~Part One

Those who’ve been through painful circumstances struggle even more this time of year. Back in 1999 I wrote an article for New York State VOCAL (Victims Of Child Abuse Laws—my husband and I, members). We’d not only been falsely accused and charged, but we faced court as well. The following is the first portion of that article from twelve years ago.

Our attic contained many boxes, but one intrusive pile represented painfully fresh memories. Christmas passed, and gifts to all the children were given—all but one child, that is. Our oldest, a sixteen-year-old missing runaway, not only falsely accused us but hadn’t come home either. Unopened gifts bearing her name now contained the year “1996.”

Four sons still lived at home, all anticipating holiday celebration. Yet my husband and I dreaded the thought of anything joyful. We needed to grieve, but our parental “duty” required mustering up courage to make it through—“for the boys’ sake.”

We prepared as usual, with a few changes, as if to disguise our pain. The usual also included buying gifts for our daughter. Afterward, placing them in the attic bore a heaviness akin to placing a monument on a grave. The time was desperately hard, and we grieved. We grieved, but we survived.

We are now approaching Christmas number four since that first one. This holiday does not crouch or pounce upon us. Neither did the first in reality. Christmas has not changed. We have.

Christmas—birth of Hope and Peace! God in the form of a baby came down at a time when a government set out to destroy hope and peace on earth. So it was for us—a governmental system encroached upon us. Yet God provided a Way to lead us through by providing a Savior.

Part Two—next week