Tomorrow is Epiphany. It is the day we celebrate the three wise men coming to see Jesus after His birth. They are bringing him most precious gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. What do we bring to Jesus?
I am reminded of “The Little Drummer Boy.” Oh, how I hated that song! I always found it so repetitive and anal. This year, I was delving deeper into my dislike of that song. Here is what I uncovered: Growing up, we were poor. There was no way we could offer Jesus gold (or regular money for that matter.) We just didn’t have it. We also didn’t have funds to by fancy oils or perfumes. What did we have? My violin playing. So, every time someone visited the farm, I was asked/commanded/expected to play my violin for them. It was like I wasn’t enough just being me, but had to perform to show I was worth it. I didn’t realize this at the time. I just did it because I was told to do so.
I felt like it was the only thing that I could offer to Jesus. This was patently untrue, but I didn’t see that until years later. Nowadays I offer Him my talents (including playing my violin for Mass) and my sorrows, joys, triumphs, and defeats; my whole life. Even without my violin performances, I am enough. You are too.
I also have found that I can harmonize “The Little Drummer Boy” to where I can more easily tolerate it. That, also, is a gift from God!
GF Recipes and Writings 