LITTLE ROCK — Several days after New Year’s, most Christmas trees were down or coming down. As I sipped my coffee that morning, I contemplated the task and rejected the idea. My tree wasn’t ready to leave. The weather outside wasn’t frightful, but it was bitterly cold and gray. My house needed more time to enjoy the special warmth the tree brings.
That realization led to another — that it felt like the season was ending too soon. I needed a final dose of Christmas wonder and magic. So, two days before Epiphany, the day we celebrate the arrival of the three wise men and the official end of the 12 days of Christmas, a family day trip was planned. Unfortunately, the next morning my husband woke up at the farm with a cold and my daughter had to work. So my son, his girlfriend and I put on some holiday spirit and headed to Eureka Springs to enjoy the galleries and shops and have a wonderful dinner.
Later that night, as I headed to bed, I felt content. I’d gotten my extra helping of holiday. The next morning I woke early, built a fire and spent some time reading. Finally, I texted Marc impatiently: “R u up yet?”
“Oh yes!” came his answer, followed by photo after photo of new lambs — not one or two, but three! Sassy, one of our favorite sheep at the farm, had given birth to her first set of triplets. Now, twins are common among our sheep, but triplets not so much. What were the chances of triplets arriving on Epiphany, the day we celebrate the arrival of the three wise men? It all felt very blessed.
Then I looked at the photos more carefully. The story of the adoration of the Magi that my family grew up hearing described three regally adorned kings. In choir, we sang “We Three Kings of Orient Are,” and knew by heart how they followed yonder star to see the baby Jesus in the manger. One of the kings, we were told, came from Europe and would have been lightskinned. The other two were from the Middle East and Africa, and would have been darker-skinned. All these old memories came flooding back as I looked at the photos of Sassy’s babies, one white lamb and two black lambs. And on the forehead of one of the black lambs was a distinct white spot, like a star.
As a woman, I have to name babies. It’s what women do. Obviously, these lambs should be named for the three wise men: Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar, I told Marc, so excited I could hardly sit still.
“Pretty serious names for little lambs,” he said.
No worries, I assured him. “We’ll use nicknames.” And we do. For ease of remembering, Caspar is the white one (as in Casper the friendly ghost, I told Marc), Melchior is becoming Kiki, and Balthazar, who has the white star on her forehead, is already Zara, a name which means “light” and “radiance.”
And so arrived the final gift of the season, so much more than any holiday gift I could have planned. On the twelfth day of Christmas we had three arrivals in a barn, born next to a manger, whose distinct coloring recalled my childhood expectations, and one with a white star on her forehead. With that, Christmas was complete. Of course, this is a small epiphany in the scheme of things. But I’m holding on to it anyway, embracing the sacredness, reassurance and joy it brings. To me, this is tidings of great comfort and joy, from a quiet barn on a mountain farm, a message of grace, and a prayer for peace on earth and good will to all.
Write to Jennifer Hansen at Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P.O. Box 7, Springdale, Ark. 72765. E- mail her at:
jhansen@arkansasonline.com
Family, Pages 32 on 01/16/2013