As a child I was eager to rush to the mailbox to collect Christmas cards.
My favorites were those with childlike illustrations of the three wise men.
Sometimes I would trace them, then recolor them to put up in my room.
I especially loved the ones with flowing, colorful capes and intricate crowns.
If there had been a copy machine in our home I daresay
I might have wallpapered my room in wise men illustrations.
As an adult I often select Christmas cards with the three kings.
As evidence I have not progressed all that much
I have been known to enhance them with markers.
In Latin countries they celebrate Epiphany as Three Kings Day
They feast, celebrate and eat breads shaped as crowns.
One day I hope to experience this celebration in some wonderous location.
I also loved the Christmas song, We Three Kings of Orient Are
It was not about jingling bells or Santa's laughter or heralding angels song.
This was magic. The hand of God at work because ....
They were out at night,
following a star,
traversing fields, fountains, moors and mountains!
Riding on camels.
Not too surprisingly my attempts to convince our mother
to let me out at night in quest of baby Jesus were unsuccessful.
As were my requests for a camel.
It would indeed take Divine intervention for this to happen.
Somehow the visits to live Nativity dioramas
featuring one of my classmates never quite satisfied.
I found the bed sheet capes extremely annoying.
The cardboard crowns an insult to faith.
And while there might be a burro
there was never a camel.
"Yonder"
still calls me
and
blessedly
always leads me to
God.
Peace Be With You
