Drummers Drumming… Pipers Piping… Lords a Leaping…
Dancing… Milking… Swimming…Laying…
It has been Quite a Season!
And this is Twelfth Night
(as SHAKESPEARE put it, “or What You Will”)

EPIPHANY
“Little Christmas”
THREE KINGS DAY

If you were a Child in South America,
Last night you would have left your Shoes outside your Door
in the hope that the Three Kings would bring you Gifts for El Día De Los Reyes.
If you are a Baker in Mexico City,
Perhaps you participated in the Baking of the Mile Long Rosca De Reyes
to celebrate today…
If you are a New Yorker, you may have done like me,
Ordered Chinese Food,
and enjoyed a quiet meal by your Beautifully Lit Christmas Tree
in your Festively Decorated Home,
one last evening for this year, before it all comes down, while listening to Christmas Music…

However you spend it,
It is a BEAUTIFUL and CURIOUS Holiday!
Curious because in the Bible from whence the Story of the Magi comes
These Three Sorcerers, Pagan Astrologers, Wizards, Shamans, Magicians…
Were they actually “KINGS?”
… Where did that come from?

When I was in Third Grade, another 7-year old student in my Class asked,
“I don’t understand. If the Three Kings brought Gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh, and they were So Valuable, then how was JESUS poor? What did he do with them?”
And SISTER RAYMUNDA answered with Absolute Confidence,
“MARY kept them for Him. And she placed them in the Tomb at His death.”
If you could have heard the sighs of Collective Awe from all of us!

SISTER RAYMUNDA knew the TRUTH!
It wasn’t in any of the Books.
It wasn’t in the Bible.
But we had Insider Access here!
She was Very Old.
And many of us thought she had probably been there!
She Knew…

My “King of Kings” Display, featuring KING LEONIDAS (or is it ASLAN?), ELVIS, CORETTA SCOTT, KONG, and TUT…

Most Curious about these MAGI:
These Dark Sorcerers
DUMBLEDORE, JAFAR, and MORGAN LE FEY
Have all come to Acknowledge this Infant Babe as the King.
And MATTHEW says,
“…BEHOLD! There came Wise Men from the East to Jerusalem!..” [Matthew 2:1]
“BEHOLD”???
What is to look at in these Three Gay Men?
DUMBLEDORE is Gay, Right?

C’Mon!
They are Fabulously Dressed!
They Bring Great Presents!
They Make the Party!
And they Arrive Fashionably Late!

But “BEHOLD!”???

And then they disappear.
Of all Four Gospel-Writers, they are only mentioned by MATTHEW
In the entire Bible, they are only mentioned this once.
And then they “[go] home by another way.”
That’s it.

Zarathustrians
Zoroastrians
“Followers of Truth”
From Persia
We now call it Iran
…Three Gay Iranian Men.

Engaging in Dark Sorcery and Astrology,
These Magi are in violation of every Old Testament Law in existence.
Breaking All the Rules.
And they Come to God!
BEHOLD!
They are Welcome!
Whatever the Manmade Laws may say of them
However they may be condemned as “sinners”
Whatever we have done that makes us feel So Bad about ourselves…
Whatever Shortcomings we may perceive in our Selves,
We are Created by GOD and GOD doesn’t make Junk!
Whatever it is that makes us Feel in Any Way Unworthy…
Whatever need we may feel to be More in Shape
More Organized
Making More Money
Saving More Money
More Punctual
WorkOut More…
We can Always come to GOD,
However we may conceive GOD to Be.
And GOD Accepts Us
Our Creator —
We are His Beloved in Whom He is Well Pleased —
Welcomes Us.
We are Come to GOD
and Welcome
and Accepted.
And Our Lives are Good!
BEHOLD!
Hence the Celebration!
Hence this Very Beautiful Holiday
Of Letting Go of our Own Feelings of Unworthiness
And Giving Over to the Universe which Sees Us for the Perfect Souls that We Are
Here and Now.
This is a BEAUTIFUL WORLD
And we are a Very BEAUTIFUL and INTEGRAL Part of It.

It’s a Very Short Story
Barely Half of a Very Short Chapter
These Gay Iranian Followers of Truth
[Note — Not “Masters of Truth” but Followers.
Just Like the Rest of Us Flawed Human Beings who Practice Yoga but Never Get It
— Or Not]
They Appear,
Bestow their Gifts,
And “return to their country by another way.”
That’s it.

If Only SISTER RAYMUNDA were Still Around,
I could ask her the rest of the Details.

But
Do they Go Home in Despair thinking,
“WTF! That was No King. They were Poor! They had no Money!
I guess there’s no Hope! Boehner and McConnell are in Charge! We’re Screwed!”

Or
Do they Go Home Enriched and Inspired
And knowing that somehow they themselves will be Immortalized in Songs and Postage Stamps and Mile-Long Breads in Mexico City?

Or
Do they Just Continue Going About their Humble Lives
Journeying
Adventuring
Enjoying the Blessings of this Wonderful World
Loving the Things they Care About
Fighting for What they Believe
And Doing what Makes them Happy
Helps Others
Enables them to Grow, Mentally, Physically and Spiritually
And Living with a Strong Sense of Community to Create a Better World?

And Now that the Christmas Season is Over, at least in our Culture, for another Year,
Which will You Choose?
Which Memories of this Beautiful Christmas Season will you take with You?
Which Choices will You Make to Create Your Life from Here?
…Now that You have Given Your Gifts
And the Festivities have Given Way
To Another 365 Day Rotation Around the Sun?

Whichever Choices you Make,
Enjoy the Ride!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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