Keepsakes

On the day after Thanksgiving, the kids and I - along with other family members gathered at my Mom and Dad's house to  kick off their holiday house decorating.  Christmas decorations at Mom and Dad's have become simpler and more understated as they have gotten older; but it helps for some of the children and grandchildren to do some sorting and to bring them up from the basement.

This year, someone uncovered a renegade bronze baby shoe while digging through stuff. Some of you won't remember this but, bronzing baby shoes was a fad or trend years ago.  This errant shoe was -I think- a sample from the set of shoes (two boys' and one girls') that hung on our wall of our home, each on their own individual pedestal-plaques.

When a child, it was a big deal for me to see that bronze shoe with my name engraved beneath its' stand and to note how much my foot had grown!

I think holding on to keepsakes is a western tradition.  For us - being very sentimental - Christmas is always a great time to drag out our own family keepsakes.  Our tree is often decorated with them ... tiny shoes, magical pacifiers that once held the key to peaceful rest for both child and parents, and little handmade decorations - heavy with Elmer's Glue and glitter. 

For some reason I thought about this practice earlier this week when I read about the early visit of the "wise men from the East" to the Christmas Couple and Jesus, the Christ Child.  My thoughts led to this question:

If you interviewed Mary - years after Jesus had died, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven - would she have taken you to a special place in her home where she kept the chunk of gold the wise men brought that night? 

Would she take you down to the cellar and with great care pull our the myrrh they gave her - still in it's original container?

What of the frankincense - could you catch a hint of it's exotic aroma as she displayed the yet unsealed container?

Of course not.

In fact, it seems to me that people of the Bible didn't hold much with keeping things for their memory's sake.  As a nation, Israel held onto a few tangible items:  the rod of Aaron that budded proving that he was God's chosen man for the high priesthood, the tablets of the commandments and a container of manna; but families did not seem to do this as much.  Instead, I think they passed on traditions - all observed deliberately so as to keep their history in tact.

Let's go back to Mary and her mantel void of Jesus memorabilia.  The reason that Mary would not show you those keepsakes from the magi visit was likely because she and Joseph had quickly liquidated those items and utilized the proceeds to fund their narrow escape into the exile of Egypt.

To a person like me, who secretly hopes that some day all these trivial items of the life of my children will be needed to stock some museum or to grace the corridors of the Presidential Library - the idea of so quickly releasing them seems foolish.

It seems that God, however, has a very practical side.  I don't think He wastes anything.
If you remember the parable Jesus told about the wealthy man that left portions of his wealth in the hands of three of his managers; the manager that was sharply rebuked was the one that had preserved the portion assigned to him.  In fact in one version of this story he talked about placing the items "on a shelf".

What Gifts has God granted to you that seem of too much value to spend?

I ask it of myself as well:  What am I hanging onto - afraid to spend it because I am fearful that I will let it go too cheaply?

Like the manna God provided in the wilderness - grace is daily; there may be costly consequences from trying to hoard it.

This Christmas we are very mindful and careful about spending. In some ways though, perhaps God intends for us to become spendthrifts.

Burdensome experiences, chance encounters, odd and unplanned circumstances, costly delays . . . .  all of these - when examined more closely and in light of God's perspectives . . .

may indeed turn out to be your gold, frankincense and myrrh.