🎄 TREE 713: Foreign gifts
TREEpeat 68
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came… they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
— Matthew 2:1,11, NIV —
The magi were Persian astrologers. They came from a different country with a completely different religion from Mary and Joseph. Even so, Mary and Joseph had the sense to recognise that the magi brought good gifts.
The gold, frankincense and myrrh probably funded the family’s escape to Egypt when King Herod decided to kill all the babies in Bethlehem.
The normal response to people outside one’s country/tradition/ethnicity/religion is suspicion. We are tribal beings. But there is so much wisdom, beauty and life outside our bubbles of familiarity.
Foreign ways of seeing, tasting, thinking, growing will enrich your life. Receive foreign gifts and those who give them.
Adobe Firefly, I said, show me a ‘vinyl toy figurine nativity scene in a dreamy Japanese landscape; kawaii’.
To which the AI replied, It’s time to flip the paradigm, Jeff. I’d like to introduce you to Mary and Josephine.
(If you want to continue thinking this scene is adorable, don’t zoom in to the lamb on the right.)
Grow slowly
Jeff
Sweet Jesus, that lamb!
Of course I looked at the lamb!! Remember your other post where you talked about looking at things when you kind of know you’re not supposed to but you do anyway? (Well, I will think of it as an AI Challenged lamb... one that I can welcome and embrace based on your message today.