How about that?! I open my e-mail today and there is an e-mail advertisement from Toys R Us promoting Three Kings Day, January 6. I don’t know whether to love it or scream. Doesn’t the commercialism of Christmas end with Santa coming down the chimney? Or is Toys R Us trying to help us see more deeply into the holiday and just using their fortuitous link to “gifts” to promote Epiphany?
I’d like to think that Toys R Us executives are trying to draw our attention to the last part of the Nativity story when twelve days after Christmas we celebrate the arrival of the three Magi (or Kings or Wisemen, whatever you wish to call them) to see the new born King, Jesus. As we know, they brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Pardon my skepticism, but I’m betting it is a last ditch effort to plump up holiday sales. God help us if after the excesses of December 25 we need to do it all over again on January 6.
Many people do celebrate Three Kings Day on January 6. The Church calls this the day of Epiphany. Personally, I try to leave all my Christmas decorations and the tree up until after this first day of Epiphany. Since I was actually really into it this year, I’m guessing it all might stay up until my daughter returns to college on January 10, just so I can keep the joy of having her home all done up with lights and sparkle. (That is as long as the tree doesn’t become a fire hazard. We cut a fresh one a week before Christmas, so it potentially should make it that long.)
A friend of mine sends her nieces small gifts from their aunt on Three Kings Day, so in a way there is a place for gifts on this day if the meaning is not lost in the excess.
I love celebrating the day of Epiphany in church. It is almost guaranteed that we will sing “We Three Kings,” one of my favorite songs. I love the idea of three learned, wealthy, influential, and political magicians/kings/wise men/studiers of prophecy recognizing that a KING has been born in a stable, and upon finding that scene would still bow before him and leave their pricey, kingly gifts with this lowly, impoverished carpenter and his wife, in trust for the day when the King would have need of them. Perhaps the gold financed Joseph and the family's flight into Egypt to escape the massacre of infants by King Herod. Perhaps the frankincense and myrrh were saved by Mary and used in Jesus' burial in the tomb. Truly gifts for a King, how wise these sages were.
Where do you weigh in on this topic? Post a comment below….I’d love to hear your thoughts. Want to see the ad? Click here: http://view.ed4.net/v/MYW5U3/L7YD3/EX2202N/6QE3AS/MAILACTION=1&FORMAT=H?csm=175986804&csc=1258316&csa=172756598&csu=1259351&camp=CME:20101227_Em_TRUCOM_Accessories_Gift_Card
I’d like to think that Toys R Us executives are trying to draw our attention to the last part of the Nativity story when twelve days after Christmas we celebrate the arrival of the three Magi (or Kings or Wisemen, whatever you wish to call them) to see the new born King, Jesus. As we know, they brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Pardon my skepticism, but I’m betting it is a last ditch effort to plump up holiday sales. God help us if after the excesses of December 25 we need to do it all over again on January 6.
Many people do celebrate Three Kings Day on January 6. The Church calls this the day of Epiphany. Personally, I try to leave all my Christmas decorations and the tree up until after this first day of Epiphany. Since I was actually really into it this year, I’m guessing it all might stay up until my daughter returns to college on January 10, just so I can keep the joy of having her home all done up with lights and sparkle. (That is as long as the tree doesn’t become a fire hazard. We cut a fresh one a week before Christmas, so it potentially should make it that long.)
A friend of mine sends her nieces small gifts from their aunt on Three Kings Day, so in a way there is a place for gifts on this day if the meaning is not lost in the excess.
I love celebrating the day of Epiphany in church. It is almost guaranteed that we will sing “We Three Kings,” one of my favorite songs. I love the idea of three learned, wealthy, influential, and political magicians/kings/wise men/studiers of prophecy recognizing that a KING has been born in a stable, and upon finding that scene would still bow before him and leave their pricey, kingly gifts with this lowly, impoverished carpenter and his wife, in trust for the day when the King would have need of them. Perhaps the gold financed Joseph and the family's flight into Egypt to escape the massacre of infants by King Herod. Perhaps the frankincense and myrrh were saved by Mary and used in Jesus' burial in the tomb. Truly gifts for a King, how wise these sages were.
Where do you weigh in on this topic? Post a comment below….I’d love to hear your thoughts. Want to see the ad? Click here: http://view.ed4.net/v/MYW5U3/L7YD3/EX2202N/6QE3AS/MAILACTION=1&FORMAT=H?csm=175986804&csc=1258316&csa=172756598&csu=1259351&camp=CME:20101227_Em_TRUCOM_Accessories_Gift_Card
And come back to read more about Epiphany from Pastor Fred on January 6.
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