The Three Wise Women

Our Christmas season started the week of Thanksgiving with the birth of granddaughter Isabelle Faith Reis. She reminded us of the precious gift of life the baby Jesus brought. We know all the stories: the stable birth, the shepherds, the angels, the Wise men, but what about the Wise women? Three women bring their gifts to the story of the coming of a Savior.
First is Elizabeth, wife of a priest named Zechariah. She had no children and, now past child-bearing age, her sadness might have become bitterness whenever she saw a friend have a baby. Her husband had long since given up hope of a son and knew better than to even mention it to his wife. He’d find his joy in his work. Then, the angel Gabriel announced to Zechariah he’d have a son, but the priest couldn’t get past the problem of his age and his wife’s barrenness. Gabriel got in the last word by taking Zechariah's power of speech away.
Imagine Zechariah’s dilemma as he tried to tell his wife with hand gestures that he was struck mute by an angel and she was about to become pregnant. Her sadness must have been replaced with anger, and perhaps some wonder about his sanity.
Elizabeth brings the gift of joy beyond all expectations to the Christmas story. God gave her her heart’s desire and changed her bitterness into joy.
Mary is the second Wise woman. Although barely old enough to become a mother, she was available to God and willing to set aside her own plans for her life for His plan for all generations. Mary brings the gift of life to the Christmas story. Mary went to Elizabeth’s home, and when Elizabeth saw her, her baby leaped in the womb. If Elizabeth had not been convinced before that she had a child within her, she knew now. Mary stayed until the baby John was born. How the young woman must have wondered if her own baby’s birth would be the same, in the company of family, with neighbors sharing the joy of the birth of a son.
Anna was a very old widow and prophetess who lived at the temple where Mary and Joseph brought their baby for his circumcision. For 84 years, she waited for God to make Himself known to her, and He did so in the child she met that day. We read of an insignificant encounter, barely mentioned, yet profoundly important to her. She brings the gift of faithful hope to the Christmas story.
The Wise men brought gold, frankincense and myrrh. The Wise women brought joy, life and hope, gifts that are renewed every Christmas season, and with the birth of every baby.

Morning After

Have you ever thought about the day after Jesus was born? When the shepherds went home and the angels stopped singing "Gloria," and the Wise Men had not yet arrived, Mary and Joseph were alone with a baby. And while we don't know exactly where they were, chances are they were still in the stable, or perhaps in a crowded room at the inn. Certainy they must have looked at each other and said, "What have we gotten ourselves into?" Mary must have been tired, feeling overwhelmed. This was a time when women gathered for labor and birth, and banished men from the room. We know Mary was "unclean" and had to present herself later to be made clean again. She must have felt alone, without her mother and kinswomen to help and fuss over her. She probably knew how to take care of a baby; women of that time had plenty of contact with newborns, but it's always harder when it's your own. Did she wonder about whether she could make enough milk to feed him? Did she lie awake all night listening to him breath, marvelling at the tiny fingers and toes, holding him against her belly and wondering how he had ever fit inside her? Did she look at Joseph and fall in love all over again? Did she thank him for protecting her and helping her give birth?

And Joseph...did he look at the baby and feel the reassurance he had made the right decisions. Did he feel uncomfortable trespassing on the woman's world of labor and birth? Did he feel pride at seeing "his" son? Or was he afraid of the responsibility of raising the son of God? Did he feel ashamed he had not been able to get a room for them? Did he wonder where their next meal would come from or if he should leave Mary and the baby long enough to go get food for them?

They must have been scared, facing their greatest fears that morning after. They must have looked at each other and their baby with new love in their hearts. They must have known their lives would never be the same again. But they couldn't have known how different their lives would become. In the quiet of the morning after, their thoughts must have turned to God.

We all have our "morning afters." Most of the time we think of the morning after as a time of regret for mistakes made the night before. Sometimes we awaken with gratitude for having made it through the night and for the promise of new opportunities before us. How often do we embrace the quiet and turn our thoughts to God? It's your morning after. The shepherds have gone home. The angels have silenced. The Wise Men are still weeks away. It's just you and your fears, and your tears, and God's promises. Tomorrow is too far away and today is just beginning. It's the morning after and there's just you and Jesus.