Well, that's that! Little remains of the wonderful Christmas season of choirs singing, lights beaming, neighbor's wishing each other good cheer, ringing out the old and celebrating the new, calling friends and family far away, revisiting old times with hearty cheer, catching up on who is living and who is no longer with us, wrapping presents, opening presents with feigned surprise and occasional wonder, welcoming visitors, trimming the tree, lighting up the angel on top who oversees the coming and going, journeying into the city to see another version of the NUTCRACKER, listening once more to Handel's MESSIAH, while back home the Nutcracker Captain with faithful soldier stand by the Christmas tree to see that the Mouse King does not re-emerge to do harm!
But, now, the children have left. Alas! What a hole remains in our house, our cheer, our excitement, our ongoing chatter and endless change of plans accompanying the many, many eruptions of carol-sings, meal planning, loading into cars, visiting and caring for others and planning for a return to school and work and what we have to look forward to in the summer with our annual gathering at the beach!
Whew! I am tired just thinking about all that, but also lonely, missing the children and allowing myself to peep into some anxiety having to do with the New Year! But, yes, even this anxiety and intrigue and uncertainty, and danger—all of this also belongs in the Christmas story, does it not?
Let's not forget the visit of the three Wise Magi, the star that guides them and the brutal Herod who fears the stories about this newly-born King of the Jews! Any king, any ruler, anyone who gets more attention than Herod could be dangerous. After all, Herod is a narcissistic sociopath who demands complete allegiance to him. This includes his military generals, his civil officers who conduct the administration of his government (such as it is!), and who help him control borders.
Oh yes, this baby Jesus might be a trouble-maker. After all, he evokes the attention of these seemingly prestigious scholars or wise men, or whoever they may be, traveling long distances bearing gifts to a baby rumored in Jewish stories to have been anticipated and who might set-up a competing rule that would challenge Herod's rule!
W.H.Auden in his long poem, "For the Time Being," labored to find just the right words to describe this would-be-king Herod.
When he says, You are happy, we laugh;
When he says, You are wretched, we cry;
When he says, It is true, everyone believes it;
When he says, It is false, no one believes it;
When he says, This is good, this is loved;
When he says, That is bad, that is hated.
Great is Caesar: God must be with Him.
Herod loves adoration and demands it. Herod demands respect not for his office but for himself personally. The army is his army. The generals are his generals. The rule of law is his, rule and tradition be damned! Such is the way of old dictators and demi-gods. He fears nothing and everything. But he fears nothing as much as a new-born baby.
And so, Herod asks the Wise Men just where he might find the new-born child so that he, Herod, may also visit and pay respect. But here the New Testament story as told by Matthew, chapter 2, takes a fascinating turn. The Wise Men see Herod for what he is, indeed a narcissistic sociopath who speaks lies, knows no value higher than his dictatorial self, and brutalizes his people with the threat of his anger, the threat of the loss of his so-called protection fo themselves, their children, and their homes, and their homeland. Herod offers all of this if they but obey him and grant him the supreme power to which he believes he is entitled.
This is where the story takes a fascinating turn often overlooked in the Christmas story. The Wise Men, knowing Herod for the dangerous sociopath that he is, simply ignore him and take another route back to their kingdom where they will prevail in order to tell the world of this new-born savior. But, in the story, what happened to Mary, Joseph, and the baby?
Joseph is warned in a dream about the approaching danger. He packs up the mother and child, and they journey to Egypt, a refuge far away form Herod, his military and his power, because even though Herod may not believe this to be true, he does not rule the world or time and the destiny of all children who are yet to be born.
And so we come to the question, as did Joseph and Mary, where shall we take refuge? In the Christmas story, according to Matthew, Joseph and Mary found refuge in Egypt, a place located geographically but also symbolically. As a symbol, for our sake, Egypt is a point, a place of waiting. Egypt is a symbol of the time in which we endure the distortions of our political world with an eye to see more clearly how Herod came to claim power and what that does to diminish life—his way of living and being that shows no consciousness of the New Life the Christ child brings to the world.
Meanwhile, before we take down the Christmas tree, pack away the ornaments, and gather the shreds of paper scattered throughout the house, my wife assures me she has one present remaining to give me—as I have one more to give her. What anticipation! As if it is the beginning of this holy season when new life comes into our world. Let's have Bing or Frank or Nat King Cole sing one more chorus of "The Christmas Song"!
But, now, the children have left. Alas! What a hole remains in our house, our cheer, our excitement, our ongoing chatter and endless change of plans accompanying the many, many eruptions of carol-sings, meal planning, loading into cars, visiting and caring for others and planning for a return to school and work and what we have to look forward to in the summer with our annual gathering at the beach!
Whew! I am tired just thinking about all that, but also lonely, missing the children and allowing myself to peep into some anxiety having to do with the New Year! But, yes, even this anxiety and intrigue and uncertainty, and danger—all of this also belongs in the Christmas story, does it not?
Let's not forget the visit of the three Wise Magi, the star that guides them and the brutal Herod who fears the stories about this newly-born King of the Jews! Any king, any ruler, anyone who gets more attention than Herod could be dangerous. After all, Herod is a narcissistic sociopath who demands complete allegiance to him. This includes his military generals, his civil officers who conduct the administration of his government (such as it is!), and who help him control borders.
Oh yes, this baby Jesus might be a trouble-maker. After all, he evokes the attention of these seemingly prestigious scholars or wise men, or whoever they may be, traveling long distances bearing gifts to a baby rumored in Jewish stories to have been anticipated and who might set-up a competing rule that would challenge Herod's rule!
W.H.Auden in his long poem, "For the Time Being," labored to find just the right words to describe this would-be-king Herod.
When he says, You are happy, we laugh;
When he says, You are wretched, we cry;
When he says, It is true, everyone believes it;
When he says, It is false, no one believes it;
When he says, This is good, this is loved;
When he says, That is bad, that is hated.
Great is Caesar: God must be with Him.
Herod loves adoration and demands it. Herod demands respect not for his office but for himself personally. The army is his army. The generals are his generals. The rule of law is his, rule and tradition be damned! Such is the way of old dictators and demi-gods. He fears nothing and everything. But he fears nothing as much as a new-born baby.
And so, Herod asks the Wise Men just where he might find the new-born child so that he, Herod, may also visit and pay respect. But here the New Testament story as told by Matthew, chapter 2, takes a fascinating turn. The Wise Men see Herod for what he is, indeed a narcissistic sociopath who speaks lies, knows no value higher than his dictatorial self, and brutalizes his people with the threat of his anger, the threat of the loss of his so-called protection fo themselves, their children, and their homes, and their homeland. Herod offers all of this if they but obey him and grant him the supreme power to which he believes he is entitled.
This is where the story takes a fascinating turn often overlooked in the Christmas story. The Wise Men, knowing Herod for the dangerous sociopath that he is, simply ignore him and take another route back to their kingdom where they will prevail in order to tell the world of this new-born savior. But, in the story, what happened to Mary, Joseph, and the baby?
Joseph is warned in a dream about the approaching danger. He packs up the mother and child, and they journey to Egypt, a refuge far away form Herod, his military and his power, because even though Herod may not believe this to be true, he does not rule the world or time and the destiny of all children who are yet to be born.
And so we come to the question, as did Joseph and Mary, where shall we take refuge? In the Christmas story, according to Matthew, Joseph and Mary found refuge in Egypt, a place located geographically but also symbolically. As a symbol, for our sake, Egypt is a point, a place of waiting. Egypt is a symbol of the time in which we endure the distortions of our political world with an eye to see more clearly how Herod came to claim power and what that does to diminish life—his way of living and being that shows no consciousness of the New Life the Christ child brings to the world.
Meanwhile, before we take down the Christmas tree, pack away the ornaments, and gather the shreds of paper scattered throughout the house, my wife assures me she has one present remaining to give me—as I have one more to give her. What anticipation! As if it is the beginning of this holy season when new life comes into our world. Let's have Bing or Frank or Nat King Cole sing one more chorus of "The Christmas Song"!
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