Merry Christmas

Hope everyone had a great Christmas.  Ours was pretty great.  After a nice church service at Agia Sophia last night the kids actually slept in, at least made it to 8 am, and they seemed very appreciate of their gifts. 


As is our tradition, I'm the only one who showers, goes outside, and of course gets dressed (actually not a given I guess).  The rest of the family stays in their pajamas and counts on me to get the paper and bring in fire wood, go on the inevitable battery run to CVS, etc. 


I also smell better.


One Christmas mystery that I've been mulling about lately is the gap between Jesus' birth and the three years, from 30 to 33, after he was baptized by John the Baptist and seemed to acknowledge that he was the son of God, both human and divine.  That acknowledgment that he was the son of God was a gradual process, but his baptism launched his ministry.


It also marked the first time he started acting special or divine since his birth.  That's what makes me wonder about the three wise men and the shepherds who witnessed his birth.  From the gospels we hear that that night was a pretty big deal: huge star in the sky, a star the wise men followed for weeks; a child so impressive that even though he was homeless the wise men gave Joseph and Mary their gold, frankincense, and myrrh; trembling shepherds who were so afraid; King Herod trying to figure out if Jesus was the king of the Jews.  


Kings, wise men, and shepherds noticed.


But what did they think a few weeks, or a year later? 


Did the wise men and shepherds eventually say to themselves: "What ever happened to that kid?"


I think we know Herod breathed a sign of relief when he figured out that Jesus would not lead a revolt of the Jews, at least on his watch.


Did the wise men go back to Persia and get bitter: "We was robbed! Myrrh is hard to come by and we gave it up for what?"  Were they embarrassed to have been swindled out of their gold by a family they never heard about again (assuming they passed away in the 30 years between Jesus' birth and baptism)?


Were the shepherds ashamed at how easy they trembled? 


Did Joseph use the gold to expand his carpentry shop or open a second location?


What did Mary and Joseph do for Jesus' one year birthday?


I have no idea, and am obviously being pretty flippant (to overstate my point), so am open to ideas or folks who have a better understanding of those events. 


I'll close with a heretical suggestion in our church; the best thing I have read on the subject of Jesus' life between the manger and his baptism is Nikos Kazantzakis' "Last Temptation of Christ."  Kazantzakis ends the books prologue with "I am certain that every (person) who reads this book, so filled with love, will more than ever before, better than ever before, love Christ."