A lot of people do. It's not always easy to provide an answer to that question, either. Some can point to events in their personal history as inspirations. Others will tell you they made it all up "out of whole cloth." I know of one author who insisted he dreamed his stories while he slept, rising in the night to write them down before they slipped away from him.
After last week's exploration of Amahl and the Night Visitors, I found myself wondering where Gian Carlo Menotti got his idea.
Three wise men traveling to Bethlehem who stop and pass the might with a boy and his mother: that's a unique concept. Lucky for us, Menotti actually wrote about this in the booklet that accompanied the original cast recording. And it is fascinating! He tells of growing up in Italy where Santa Claus was not a part of their Christmas celebrations. In his youth, children looked forward, instead, to the visitation of the three kings. He wrote:
"I actually never met the Three Kings—it didn't matter how hard my little brother and I tried to keep awake at night to catch a glimpse of the Three Royal Visitors, we would always fall asleep just before they arrived. But I do remember hearing them. I remember the weird cadence of their song in the dark distance; I remember the brittle sound of the camel's hooves crushing the frozen snow; and I remember the mysterious tinkling of their silver bridles."
Yes, that's right: not reindeer, but camels.
A little research and I learned that Italy's children sent their toy requests to the three kings, anticipated their arrival, and left water and snacks for them and their camels to help sustain them on their long journey. Menotti's childhood gave him the inspiration for what became a beloved Christmas tradition, an English language opera that is still performed.
Do these kinds of activities sound familiar to you?
Apparently, there is a certain universality to what happens in the Christmas season, regardless of where you live. Even if there is no Santa there. And that is our connection to this week's Lectionary.
Epiphany continues. We'll be in this season until Mardi Gras (February 28th in 2017). The Lectionary scripture selections each week focus on one or more aspects of Epiphany. This week, they all reference the universality of the Gospel; Jesus came for us all. This is so clear in the selection from John where, upon seeing Jesus again, John declares to his own disciples "Behold the lamb of God" who was, even as John spoke, "taking away the sin of the world."
Did you see that? ... the sin of the world, not just of the Jews. Even though John saw it, clearly, that's a part of the ongoing message from God to His people that many of them couldn't quite wrap their heads around ... that their Messiah would somehow belong to non-Jews, as well.
I suspect their thinking may have been a bit Israel-centric, much like ours is when we think of the rest of the world. Well, that was never the way God saw it. He always pictured an entire world rejoined with Him in harmony, a people who chose Him just as He had chosen them.
We see it in this week's Isaiah selection where the Lord, through the Prophet, tells of how the restoration of Israel to God is, in essence, too easy a thing for the savior, by itself. He would also be a light to the nations so salvation would reach to the very ends of the earth. And it's there in this week's Psalm where the Psalmist declares he has proclaimed God's faithfulness and salvation to the "Kahal rav" (the largest community).
And, finally, we see it in the selection from 1 Corinthians where Paul greets them along with everyone else, in every place, who claims the name of Jesus. He clearly notes that Jesus is universal, not limited to one nation or group, but for the whole world.
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http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/lections.php?year=A&season=Epiphany
READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Second Sunday after the Epiphany (January 15, 2017)
First reading
Isaiah 49:1-7
Psalm
Psalm 40:1-11
Second reading
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Gospel
John 1:29-42
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Join us Friday morning at Lectionary Breakfast as we continue to marvel at how God planned for our salvation. Find us at the Waco "Egg and I" restaurant. We start the fun at 8:00, spending the hour reading scripture, discussing, laughing, and praying.
True Epiphany.
Blessings,
Steve
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