Balthasar

More About Me

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

Since I have run out of ideas of what to write about, I thought I’d share a few tidbits about yours truly, i.e. me.

Some of this may be new and some may be old. Or it may all be old. I don’t really know. I’ve lost track after 2,149 blogs over almost 6 years.

  1. If I had to choose just one album to listen to for the rest of my life, I think it’d be Miles Davis’ A Kind of Blue. That album still takes me to a tranquil and happy place.
  2. I’m still not 100% decided, but I think if I had to choose just one kind of food to eat from now on, it would probably be sushi (or if I’m allowed to cheat a little, sushi and Thai). I’ve become a serious fan.
  3. I still wish I could go back in time, if only for a day, and have conversations with people I love who have passed. Especially my two uncles. I know we’d talk about music the entire time.
  4. If I could pick any place to live, I think I’d like to live on Fair Street in Franklin. It’s like a fairy tale street and all the houses remind me of something out of a George MacDonald fantasy novel.
  5. The older I get, the older my music tends to get. Currently, I’m into country and acoustic blues from the 20’s and 30’s. In my opinion, it doesn’t get any more authentic than that.
  6. I still believe the healthiest place to be is to live in an others-centered way. The less you make life about you and your drama, the better. The more you focus on helping and serving others (and most of all serving God), the less time you have for drifting into a kind of narcissism where everything that happens in life ends up being about you. The absolute best way to deal with depression and grief is to find someone else with a need that you can meet and to go meet that need.
  7. Chocolate is still my favorite in the dessert world but there’s something about hot drinks with vanilla or vanilla-scented anything that takes me to a Calgon-like happy place.

I think that about covers it for now.

Wise Men Still Seek Him

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

Wise Men Still Seek Him_1

 

Ahh, those wise men. I’ve talked about them a bit, haven’t I? I mentioned how they probably weren’t at the birth scene, despite their inclusion in so many nativity scenes. I’ve mentioned that there may or may not have been three of them (and the names ascribed to them– Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar– may or may not actually belong to them).

But I thought about them in a new way today.

When they saw the star the first time, they didn’t just hop in a taxi and yell, “Take us to Bethlehem, pronto!”

Most likely, they spent weeks and months and possibly years following this star. They didn’t know where it would lead. They only knew that at the end of the journey was the hope of all their dreams and the answer to all their questions and the object of all their hopes.

I’m sure they grew weary from endless days and nights wandering through deserts and probably at some point one or more of them entertained thoughts of giving up and going home. But they didn’t.

They persevered because of a promise. They kept going because of a dream in their hearts that refused to die.

I wonder sometimes if I would have been so persistent in pursuing this Christ child. Would I be that tenacious now? Would I really be willing to leave everything and everyone I know and go (alone if necessary) to follow after this Jesus?

I hope so. I pray so.

I love their initial response to finding Jesus. Matthew says “and as soon as the wise men arrived, they saw Him with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him.”

They didn’t unpack their suitcases. They didn’t sit down to a meal or request something to drink after a long journey. They worshipped. They fell to their faces in astonished awe at seeing the result of their long and arduous journey.

May you and I do the same. May you and I remember that the best worship is always that which costs us something to offer.

 

Just About Everything About Your Nativity is Wrong (But Not Everything)

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 2 Comments

lego nativity scene

Disclaimer: if you love your nativity scene and don’t want anybody messing with it, you might want to stop reading here. Just FYI. Otherwise, keep goin’. Fun times are ahead.

First of all, the wise men were not at the birth scene. According to Matthew, they didn’t arrive until Joseph, Mary, and Jesus were living in a house and Jesus was probably 2 years old. Already, your nativity scene is getting less crowded.

Also, there was no mean inn-keeper (sorry to burst your bubble, all of you whose dramatic career consisted of playing this one character in the church Christmas pageant). There was probably no inn, either. According to what I’ve learned, the Greek word used for inn in Luke 2 is probably better rendered as “guest room” and was most likely in back of the ancestral home where the family beast of burden would normally stay.

That means there weren’t animals at the birth scene. Again, not 100% for certain, but more than likely not. I don’t know if any little boy showed up and serenaded the Christ child with a drum solo, but it’s doubtful.

As far as the wise men are concerned, there’s no indication in Scripture that there were three of them. Just because there were three gifts doesn’t mean that there were three of them. And they may or may not have been named Gaspar, Melchior,  and Balthasar. For all we know, they could have been named Larry, Curly, and Moe.

The one thing that’s right about your nativity scene is that Jesus is there. The Word became flesh and pitched his tent among us. God took on human skin and became Immanuel– “God with us.” The Almighty became an embryo and the Creator became a helpless infant boy.

So you can keep that part of your nativity scene. You can even add in snow if the spirit leads. But remember that Jesus was probably born in spring, not December, so there was likely no snow that night. I just burst yet another bubble of yours. You’re welcome.