As I anxiously opened the festive wrapping, my fifteen year old heart could barely keep it together. We were crowded at Grandma's who had spent extra time this year making sure she got us "cool" gifts. I was optimistic.
I was also baffled. Cool is so relative. And fickle. And fleeting.
"Thanks G-ma." I couldn't believe my eyes as I sat holding a crimper. My late 80's counterparts - I can hear you crying foul on me right now. But ladies and gents, you have to understand. You see, I'm Puerto Rican.
I mean, tan skinned, brown eyed, wild haired Latina. If there is one drop of moisture in the atmosphere, my hair immediately looks like broccoli or Dora the Explorer. There's no in-between. It is the epitome of curled frenzy.
A crimper for ANYONE else would have been a cool gift. As I looked at the hot pink handle and my Grandma's beaming face, it was just...well...awkward.
We've all been there. In the face of a beloved person who has bestowed on us the very best of what they offered, only to be shocked at the complete randomness of it all. I've seen t-shirts with the taco bell dog given to grown women, living room throws with kittens, and a sweatshirt (yes) with an attached hand-sewn Christmas tree made out of some sort of rag material. Well meaning gifts. Heartfelt gifts. But believe me when I say the names are left out to protect both the guilty and their victims.
When the writer of the Gospel account of Matthew starts into the second chapter, we see wise men visiting the baby Jesus with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. We sing about it every year. And just this morning I was stopped cold. What kind of gifts are those? Gold, sure. No one is going to say no to gold.
Frankincense and myrrh? Sounds like a crimper to me.
Both are derived from particular trees found in Northern Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and possibly China. Used in ancient rituals, both were used for medicinal purposes and were highly sought after. Frankincense was believed to cure almost everything from a toothache to leprosy. Myrrh, on the other hand, was also used for embalming. At the time of Jesus's birth, it is believed that these were more expensive and valuable then the gold.
A cure-all and a balm for the dead. Was Joseph thinking he could sell this stuff if times were tight? Was Mary wondering if there was sickness in the air? Did Melchior turn to the other wise men and say, "Seriously, guys?"
Yet who knows if this is the gold that helped them survive their exile in Egypt while they fled the hateful Herod to protect their infant son. Who knows if this frankincense was a sign that this little baby would become the great Physician to heal those wounded in body and broken in heart? And who can say that the myrrh didn't sit on a shelf in the house, where a growing Jesus would look at it and be reminded that he would die one day for his mom, his dad, those wise men, and the rest of the world?
Two, maybe three awkward gifts - precious. Purposeful. Prophetic.
So perhaps Joseph saw the gold and realized they would need to run. Mary saw the frankincense and realized there would be no hometown physician to help her and her infant son - they would need healing on the go. And maybe both looked at the myrrh and felt their heart ache as they realize every dream, every visitation would be true. They gave birth to one who would pay the ultimate price. Life for lives. Until death.
Eliza Cortes Bast
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