All that Glitters at Christmas

What makes Christmas bright? For many of us, attention is drawn to all the flashy luster that is part of this special season of the year. Possibly the most shining example of shimmering sheen in the season of Christmas are the lights. Starting in November and lasting through January, Christmas lights appear all over the place. In our neighborhood there are scintillating displays that glitter like tiny beacons after the all-too-soon setting of the sun brings darkness to our community. Beyond our subdivision, many other homes portray their love for the season using twinkling displays, moving lights, or even characters that sway as they burst with bright light. A few homes entertain passers-by with glitzy themes. Other residences show their value for quantity, teetering on the edge of gaudiness (a destination at which some have fully arrived). A few humble dwellings shine out with unbelievable extravagance. The glow of lights set out with great effort brings a welcome moment of joy and celebration for all.

Beyond the lights of the facade, many homes are filled on the inside with glittering, shimmering decor. Snowmen, snowflakes, skaters and icicles announce that the time is winter.  Candy canes, M&M’s and other mouth watering displays draw out the sweet tooth in us. Evergreen trees smothered with decor and tinsel share a hope that springtime will come again to break the cold and darkness. Displays of faith announce the real or historic reason we call this season Christmas.

The season draws out an expression of hope among merchants who fill stores with wares and line shelves with glittering trinkets which they hope we will buy. It is said that one out of every five merchandise purchases is made within thirty days before Christmas and produces three trillion dollars in sales on main street, mall row, byways stores and internet surfside displays.

Where did this all get started? Tradition tells us it was three kings who traveled the silk road from the east and brought the original glittering gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. But many in our secular world argue it was Santa Claus who dropped the original gold trinkets down chimneys into the stockings of the poor.  You can choose, but remember: One shiny gift brings only a quick flash of glitter, but a gift given with the love of Christ displays abiding light from within.

By some readings, both the Kings and Santa Claus (St. Nicholas) gave a one-time present. But when you look at the real Kings, and the genuine heart of the real St. Nicholas, you discover they each gave their gifts out of a heart seeking to please God. This Christmas, will you give presents that carry the glitters and glimmers of this world in order to impress, or will you give the gifts prayed over and driven by the love of Christ in order to embrace our world in an unbelievable way on that first Christmas morning?

Astronomy & Music

The time I spent on the journey with the Magi was amazing.  I learned many things as I visited the East and sat at the feet of the Astronomers.  During our third day of Advent Journeys this week the caravan of Wise Men is traveling up the Euphrates River.  Along this part of the trip they are enjoying the rich agricultural portion of this river, and have some time to enjoy.  They pull out their musical instruments.  As I wrote this portion of the devotion, I learned the Middle Eastern Astronomers made a huge impact on music.

Take for instance the musical scale.  It is made up of seven notes (A, B, C, D, E, F and G - plus sharps and flats … but there are seven actual notes).  This equates to one note for each day of the week.  (with sharps and flats, if the scale was arranged differently it could have been more notes).  The seven notes are named Xosrovani.

The seven notes can be played thirty ways, called modes.  These include: Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian.  They can be augmented or diminished.  A musician can explain this better, but the thirty modes represent thirty days of the month.  These are further organized into 360 melodies (one for each day of the year) named dastan.

Music was important to all ages of Mesopotamian history.  In the book of Daniel we find persians used the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, and pipes.  They probably also used percussion instruments.  Some of the instruments were brought in from India, other instruments from the west, from Greece.  Many instruments still exist, or have been re-created, and can be heard on YouTube.

The prophecy of Balaam

We live in a small world.  With modern transportation we can easily travel to almost anywhere.  We read and share traditions from around the world in our stories, merchandise, and food.  We enjoy furnishings from the orient, art from Italy and carvings from Africa.  We eat at Chinese, Italian, German, and Mexican foods.  We tell stories from Greek, Roman and Norse mythology, and we share the tales of King Arthur and Shakespeare.

The sharing of stories, merchandise and food between nations is not new. World empires of Babylon, Persia and Greece began a mixing process.  People in the Middle East and also in Europe gained a taste for products from India and even China.  Stories, pottery and foods were also shared from the west to the east via Hellenistic culture.  

In the middle of the world both in ancient times, and now, is the land of Israel.  Israel is the link between east and west, north and south.  The via Maris is the main road to Egypt.  The King’s Highway is the main road to the sea which leads to Africa.  All armies and cultures in times past have passed through Israel.

And Israel has given to the world its stories and its God.  The stories came at first through bondage to Egypt and as the people of Israel were conquered by Assyria and Babylon.  Through the passing of time and the mixing of cultures stories were shared by people on three continents.

One of the stories which successfully passed from one culture to another was the prophecy that a king would come when an unusual star was seen in a certain constellation.  The story springs from the prophecy of Balaam (possibly from Ammon) which states: “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.” (Nu. 24:17)

It is thought that the Hebrew prophet Daniel who was born in Israel, lived in Babylon, and possibly died in Persia, informed the magi of Babylon and Persia of this prophecy.  He also shared a connection between this prophecy and Genesis 49:10, “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.”

Strabo the geographer writes about the time Jesus was born: “the prophets too were held in so much honour that they were deemed worthy to be kings, on the ground that they promulgated to us ordinances and amendments from the gods, not only when they were alive, but also when they were dead, as, for example, Teiresias, ‘to whom even in death Persephone granted reason, that he alone should have understanding, whereas the others flit about as shadows.’ Such, also, were Amphiaraüs, Trophonius, Orpheus, Musaeus, and the god among the Getae, who in ancient times was Zamolxis, a Pythagoreian, and in my time was Decaeneus, the diviner of Byrebistas; and, among the Bosporeni, Achaecarus; and, among the Indians, the Gymnosophists; and, among the Persians, the Magi and the necromancers, as also the dish-diviners and water-diviners, as they are called; and, among the Assyrians, the Chaldaeans; and, among the Romans, the Tyrrhenian nativity-casters. Moses was such a person as these, as also his successors, who, with no bad beginning, turned out for the worse.” (Geographica XVI, ii, 39)

Our Bible tells us Magi saw movements or changes in a star in the east (possibly Aldebaran) and put it together with prophecies from the west they understood a new king was to be born.  They gathered gold, frankincense, and myrrh and traveled down what is called the silk road in search of the king foretold in their prophecies.

This week we will travel with the Magi in the book Advent Journeys. I hope your reading is going well, and spending time with the people of the Christmas story is bringing joy to your Christmas.