From: eric
Date: Tue Dec 28 14:11:21 MST 2004
Subject: last week's postcard

The Village: 12/21/04 Karen Bradley’s ramblings on Matt. 2: Ancient caravans crossed the deserts schlepping salt, slaves, gold. Ideas hitched along, too, like the concept of one God so huge, he refused to be contained by anything, but Eastern mystics imagined him represented by pure light. When a group of them noticed a strange light in the sky, their curiosity led them to form a new sort of caravan, risking their lives on their quest for the light's source in Jerusalem. How weird it must have been to arrive thinking, "safe and sound," only to be greeted by a maniacal king and educated men totally clueless about the miracle right in their backyard. --When the pilgrims finally found Jesus, they gave gifts both practical and macabre, connected with a god-king's life as well as his death: ever since ancient Egypt, rulers had been embalmed with frankincense and myrrh, their corpses laid to rest in gold coffins. Did these men have some foreknowledge of Jesus' destiny, tied up in his manner of death? --I’m also thinking of the sweet drummer boy song from kindergarten (outcast musician hooks up with magical mystery tour!) He worried, unnecessarily, "I have no gift to bring that's fit to give our King." Before I knew theology, this song planted the seed of worship under Grace: somehow, all God wanted was myself. --But then there's the dark side, absent from the sweet songs: Herod's massacre of Bethlehem's infant sons. Indirectly, because of the star-gazers, so many suffered, which all seems to confirm Jesus' claim decades later, "I did not cometo bring peace, but a sword." --Yet, in this messed-up world, the battle did not take out the pilgrims, who made it safely back home. What stories did they tell? How did the stories change their messed-up world forever?

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