The
Scene at the Manger:
Symbols to Nurture the New Life Within
by
Lowell Grisham
January
6 marks the Feast of the Epiphany, when Christians remember the
story of the visit of the Magi to the child Jesus. The images from
this tableau can be compelling symbols with universal appeal—the
birth of the child; the visits of shepherds and wise men; the threat
from King Herod. This story tells of the perennial struggle of bringing
goodness into full being.
We see Mary the mother, nurturing fragile new life into being. Within
each of us is a maternal instinct that gently feeds and cares for
our loving nature. Mary is a person of obedience, or maybe a better
word for our day, a person of willingness. She is open and willing
to value and love the tender spirit of possibility. Each
of us has a Mary within—our disciplines of willingness to
cradle and nurture the divine spirit that yearns to grow within
us.
We see Joseph the father, protecting and guiding this fragile life.
He is a person of intuition and action. Able to access the divine
wisdom of his inner self, he listens to the messages of his dreams,
he looks at the dangers of the landscape, and he leads his family
to safety and protection. There is within each of us a powerful
intuitive wisdom to act courageously to protect and stimulate the
divine spirit seeking to grow within us.
We see Herod the king, the drive to power, control, and prestige.
We all have a Herod within us as—the cold intellect which
feels threatened by anything or anyone that might compromise our
honor and pride, our power and control. It is the voice of Herod
that believes this is a dangerous and threatening world where even
a child might steal our throne. Armed and defensive, Herod looks
to secure his place through his own might and cunning. His energy
is fear. And he will kill the divine spark within. We
know Herod. He is our pride and our fear, our excessive need for
power and control. To listen to him is death. Resist him.
We see the Magi from the East, the spirit of exploration and pilgrimage,
the warm intellect that is open to new wisdom. They look toward
Nature for their truth. And like so many others who have observed
creation with awe, their study takes them in a natural path toward
the Divine. These ancient scientists move slowly with intellectual
deliberation toward the place of epiphany. Their only danger is
that they can be used, manipulated by the cold intellect motivated
by power and pride.
It
was a dangerous exchange of pleasantries when they called upon Herod
in Jerusalem, a visit that proved deadly to many innocents. Using
their information, Herod killed all of the first-born sons in his
search to destroy this new child of life. Knowledge in the hands
of the wrathful always brings tragedy.
But the wise men do come. They follow their star, and like all truth
humbly followed, it leads them to the perfect truth of the divine.
By the time the wise men arrive, the shepherds have already come
and gone. Simple, responsive, they don't need a lot of study or
reasoning to find the child. With bounding joy they rushed instantly
to the source of their hope. They seem to have an instinct for the
holy.
They
are like those whom philosopher William James called "the once
born." I am not among the "once born." I am one of
those troubled by doubts and ponderous theologies. The "once
born" simply know the divine presence. It is not so easy for
the rest of us, those of us burdened with thoughts and theories.
There is a prayer written by Evelyn Waugh in his novel Helena,
about the mother of the emperor Constantine. Helena prays for her
great son, and she asks these wise men to be her intercessors. "You
are my special patrons," she prays to the wise men, "and
patrons of all late-comers, of all who have had a tedious journey
to make to the truth, of all who are confused with knowledge and
speculation, of all who through politeness make themselves partners
in guilt, of all who stand in danger by reason of their talents...
For His sake, who did not reject your curious gifts, pray always
for the learned, the oblique, the delicate. Let them not be quite
forgotten at the Throne of God when the simple come into their kingdom."
There is a simple epiphany
within and around each of us. The spirit of the divine yearns to
come to full life in every human being. It is the energy of love,
acceptance, healing, and grace. May each of us nurture
that life like Mary and guard it like Joseph—whether we run
into it with boundless joy like the shepherds or journey to it with
careful search like the wise men. The divine child within each of
us is our true self longing to mature. We offer our gifts of gold,
frankincense and myrrh—our talents and action, our devotion
and reflection, our surrender and death.
Peace.
All is welcome at the manger.
Copyright
©2007 Lowell Grisham
First published in the Northwest Arkansas Times (Fayetteville),
Jan. 8, 2007.
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