BY DENISE DICK HERR

hristmas is a time for symbols. Silver stars, reminiscent of the star of Bethlehem, dangle from windows. Congregations singing "Gloria in excelsis Deo" echo the angels' song. Some even say that the shape of the candy cane is to remind us of a shepherd's staff or, turned upside down, the first letter of Jesus' name.

But Christmas symbols are nothing new—we see them at the very first Christmas in the gifts the Wise Men brought.

The gold, of course, is an appropriate gift for royalty to offer a king. Hiram, king of Tyre, and the Queen of Sheba both brought this precious metal to Solomon. The Magi, searching for the "king of the Jews," would naturally select an offering of gold to carry with them. We can imagine Mary smiling as they knelt and offered her son such riches. She knew that her son was the King of kings and that His reign would never end.

The frankincense, too, is wonderfully symbolic. Frank-incense was an important component of the incense that the priests used. In this way, the gift of the frankincense points to Christ's function as our great high priest; but its significance extends further. Incense is burned before God. It acknowledges the presence of divinity; or as the well-known carol "We Three Kings" states: "Incense owns a Deity nigh." The gift of frankincense alludes to the fact that Jesus is our priest—and our God.

The myrrh also serves as a symbol—a symbol of Christ's death. Not only does the myrrh tree have numerous long thorns, reminiscent of Christ's crown of thorns, but myrrh was also used in the embalming process, thus clearly associated with His death. Christ was offered myrrh and wine while He was on the cross, and Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, along with linen cloths, to prepare His body for burial.

Symbolism may also be present in the way that frankincense and myrrh are harvested. These fragrant resins are collected as solidified drops exuded from small trees growing in the desert.¹ Although the trees naturally emit resin, when their branches are incised the resin flow increases. In a similar way, when Christ came to this earth, His love flowed naturally, and those around Him could sense the fragrance and wonder of His life; however, when He was crucified on the tree, evidence of His love for humankind poured forth in abundance.

If I'd Been Mary
We rejoice in these symbols of Christ's life and death that brought salvation to men and women living on this earth. We like looking back . . . but not Mary.

As she sat in the stable with a newborn in her lap, she did not know exactly what would happen to Him in the future, and she certainly would not have been delighting in ideas associated with this precious baby's death. With the weight of responsibility for raising this special child on her shoulders, she was thinking, I imagine, very practical thoughts and wondering how she and Joseph were to care for the Son of God.

If I had been Mary, I would have been delighted to see that "Melchior" had presented my child with a gift of gold. Gold could be exchanged for a multitude of practical things that the baby would need—food, shelter, clothing, schooling. Who wouldn't rejoice in such a gift? Melchior would have received a glowing smile along with my thanks. However, when "Gaspar" and "Balthasar" presented frankincense and myrrh, I would have been puzzled. What could I do with these gifts?

I probably would have thought to myself, I know other people like this. They can't take the time to look for an appropriate present but just grab the first thing that's handy. I'm sure they mean well, but . . . I like to think that I would have smiled, and I hope I would have been gracious. But I know my thanks wouldn't have been heartfelt.

But not Mary. She would have known the worth of the gifts—and their practical uses.

In the ancient world frankincense and myrrh were very precious commodities. There was only a limited amount available, because not much could be produced, and transportation routes were long (the trees grew only in southern Arabia and northern Somaliland). A pound (.45 kilograms) of frankincense would represent one or two weeks' wages for us.² Of course, we don't know how large were the gifts of frankincense and myrrh, but it's clear that these were not gifts that would have been esteemed lightly.

Air Freshener? Why Not?
Furthermore, Mary would have known what to do with these gifts.

Her first action, if she and her family were still in the stable,³ might have been to burn some of the fragrant resins to perfume the air. The stable that we see on Christmas cards—a rustic building full of bright, clean straw—is a figment of modern Western imagination. Real stables in the Middle East are enclosures, often caves, redolent of soot from fires and accumulated layers of sheep and goat droppings. Even if Joseph, and perhaps some helpful shepherds, had cleaned the stable, it still could have benefited from air freshener.

But she would not have burned very much frankincense; she'd have wanted to save the precious substance for medicinal use. Frankincense was used to stop bleeding, to heal wounds, and for cleansing. It was also an

ingredient used in the antidotes for some poisons and in prescriptions that would ease pain. Mary knew that her child was the Son of God, but she had heard no promises that her baby would be pain-free when He cut his teeth, that He would not fall as He toddled on the stony paths in Nazareth. The angel had not told her that as He grew older He would never cut His hand with a chisel, adze, or awl as He helped Joseph. She knew that wounds could fester, and she'd have been thankful for frankincense—a valuable addition to her first-aid kit.⁴

Myrrh too was used medicinally in the Greco-Roman world. Not only was it thought to help cure eye inflammations and earaches, but it was also used in prescriptions for quartan fever, dropsy, and relief of pain.

Furthermore, Mary would have known that it was supposed to beautify: Esther and her peers used oil of myrrh ("presumably a neutral oil containing myrrh"⁵) as a six-month beauty treatment before being allowed to see the Persian king. If the myrrh presented to the Christ child had been oil of myrrh, I'm sure that Mary would have been especially grateful. Here was a thoughtful gift that would guard against the chilblains of winter and the dry, cracked skin of summer.⁶

What wonderful gifts! Through their rich symbolism they speak to the imagination of generations, pointing out the fact that Jesus is King of kings, our high priest, our God who died for us, and the one who will heal us of our diseases and add beauty to our lives.

Through their great practicality they would have given Mary peace of mind, knowing that financial concerns and many physical worries could be easily dealt with.

With such evidence, who could doubt God's goodness and His care? Certainly not Mary—and not us.

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¹ Frankincense was obtained from several species of the genus Boswellia (B. carteril, B. frereana, and B. sacra) and perhaps other plants; myrrh seems to have been gathered from Balsamodendron myrrha and Commiphoa abyssinica. See Gus W. Van Beck, "Frankincense and Myrrh," The Biblical Archaeologist Reader, eds. David Noel Freedman and Edwin F. Campbell, Jr. (Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Books, 1964), vol. 2, pp. 100, 101; and Michael Zohary, Plants of the Bible (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982), pp. 197, 200.
² Van Beck, p. 119.
³ And they were not still in the stable, of course. The visit of the Magi came later.
⁴ Christ Himself was like frankincense, not only perfuming the world with His spirit, but also healing the sick and suffering, and offering an antidote for the poison of sin.
⁵ Van Beck, p. 115.
⁶ When I first visited the Middle East, a village woman showed a similar concern: she asked me, by way of gesture, to bring her some hand lotion and lip balm when I returned.

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Denise Dick Herr is a professor of English at Canadian University College in College Heights, Alberta, Canada.