Epiphany

...and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. One of my favorite Christmas cards of all time had a cartoon of a manger scene with the caption: "....diapers, blankets, donkey seat...finally gifts we can use!... The visit of 3 wise women..." In the last few years my Christmas visiting has stretched into January. And I look forward to this post holiday treat. The pressure is off and it's fun to get together with friends. And give "Epiphany gifts". It turns out this is a tradition in Ireland called Little Woman's Christmas. The men stay home and the women get to go to the pub for Epiphany. It doesn't involve gifts. I believe the pub beverage is the highlight. It's their reward for all work that comes with the holidays. I was surprised to hear a young man at the gym (me going to the gym also still surprises me) who acknowledged the work women do in preparation for the festive season. I definitely do less than I used to but in the past I've done my share. When I was growing up we called it the Orthodox Christmas ...considering we were Orthodox. I didn't realize it was Epiphany but it all makes sense now. That's when the gifts were brought to the baby Jesus. That was the tradition until the calendar was changed to celebrate Christmas on December 25th. I think we should all rebel against the secularizing of December 25th and give gifts on Epiphany like the old days. We'll hit the sales and everything will be at least 50% off. Just a thought. Happy Epiphany. Happy Orthodox Christmas. Happy Little Women's Christmas.