updated December 16, 2024
I didn’t believe it had been four years since I first published this post. And what I wrote is true this year for different reasons.
It’s been a difficult year, not because of a viral pandemic that sickened and killed many people. But people have been harmed by financial strain, weather disasters, wars, and political upheaval.
More than ever, we need to give each other wise gifts.
The Nativity of Christ
Whether you go to a Christian church or not, you likely are familiar with the Christmas story in the Bible as it is depicted in the Nativity. Nativity is a fancy way to say “birth,” but is especially used to refer to the birth of Jesus Christ.
A young couple named Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem for the Roman census.
Mary, pregnant, unexpectedly delivered a baby boy there, in a barn, the only available accommodation on short notice
Local shepherds, directed by angels, came to visit the baby.
And “three wise men”, following a star, came to visit bearing expensive gifts.
Except that’s not exactly how the Bible tells it. The four Gospels- Matthew, Mark, Luke, John- relate the life of Jesus, but only Matthew and Luke tell the nativity story and their versions are different.
Luke tells about the trip to Bethlehem and the shepherds’ visit. Matthew misses the shepherds, but from him we learn about the Wise Men.
Most Bible versions call them wise men, a translation of the Greek word Magi, used in the New International Version. The Message Bible calls them “a band of scholars” which might be the most accurate as none of the versions indicate there were only three.
Nor did they visit the barn. Matthew indicates they came to the house, to visit the “child”. So perhaps this was as much as two years later.
The Gifts of the Magi
But however many there were and whenever they arrived, they brought three gifts-gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
The magi, as you know, were wise men—wonderfully wise men— who brought gifts to the newborn Christ-child. They were the first to give Christmas gifts. Being wise, their gifts were doubtless wise ones.
O. Henry
Medicinal Gifts
In a previous post I told you about William Sydney Porter, the author of a story named The Gift of the Magi. Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell the story here, I don’t want to spoil it if you’ve never read it.
I assume William, the real name of O. Henry, must have known this Bible story. Why else would a druggist, ranch hand, magazine editor, and convicted felon write a story about Magi?
As a druggist (although of uncertain credentials) I suspect he knew of the medicinal properties attributed to gold, frankincense, and myrrh. We think of gold’s value in terms of money, but 2000 years ago, people probably valued healing substances more than money.
Doctors once treated rheumatoid arthritis with medicines developed from gold, now mostly replaced with more effective and less toxic drugs. Traditional Chinese medicine uses frankincense and myrrh for their reported anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects.
As I write this, scientists are working around the clock studying medicines and vaccines to slow, cure, and prevent the ravages of SARS-CoV-2, a pathogen the world has never encountered before and the likes of one we never want to deal with again. By the time you read this over 50 million people worldwide will have become infected with this novel virus which will have killed 1.5 million of them.
Update note: According to John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center,as of March 10, 2023,
- Total cases -676,609,955
- Total deaths-6,881,955
The world needs healing this year. People have suffered through several pandemics since the time of Christ’s birth. Imagine how frightening the plagues were when science couldn’t explain the source of disease, much less how to prevent it. Even as recently as the influenza pandemic of 1918, how it spread was not understood, and medicines to treat it didn’t exist.
Spiritual Gifts
Christian scholars also attribute spiritual significance to the Magi gifts. Among the many references I reviewed, this one sums up the general consensus.
“gold can be taken to symbolise royalty and kingship; frankincense divinity and holiness; and myrrh suffering and death.”
Although we have no record to indicate O. Henry thought of the gifts in spiritual terms, he conveyed an unexpected and ironic picture of what “wise gifts” are.
Perhaps the wisest gifts we can give this year of loss, friction, unrest, blaming, pain, sickness, and death are understanding, patience, listening, caring, generosity, forgiveness, friendship, and love.
It’s worth reading, or re-reading the story; watching or listening to it. Do it before you start Christmas shopping; you may change some of your choices. And we should all thank William, aka O.Henry, for leaving us the gift of
sharing the HEART of Christmas
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What a Pharmacist Taught Us About Christmas
William Sydney Porter was a writer whose tales explored the meaning of life through irony. Born in 1862, he faced personal tragedies and accusations of embezzlement, leading to prison. There, he honed his writing skills, producing over 600 stories before succumbing to addiction and illness in 1910. But before he died he left the world…
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