The “Holiday” Spirit
Wanda has a great rant on the meaning of Christmas which is at variance with what Jeff at Speedkill has found to be O’Reilly’s meaning of Christmas.
This leads me to my seasonal rant about the inappropriateness of the gifts that the Three Magi brought with them. On the surface it might seem that gold, frankincense, and myrrh were valuable and wonderful gifts, but let’s have a reality check.
You have a young family with a new child in a stable because of a lack of suitable housing. Nothing these guys schlepped into Bethlehem affected that problem, but they caused another problem.
Why were Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem? To pay taxes. When you are in the process of paying taxes do you really want strangers to hand you valuable imported gifts? Does anyone think that Roman tax guys were less suspicious than the IRS? Where does a poor Jewish carpenter get gold and chunks of imported tree sap used in incense and perfumes?
If they had dropped by with an amphora of a decent red, some diapers, and a car seat for the donkey, they would have been “wise men”. The stuff they brought made them look like “wise guys” involved in a smuggling operation.
