Gingerly speaking

A series inspired by sights of Kauai.
Gingerbread men—have you savored that scent lately? This being Christmas, no doubt you have.  Believe it or not, this flower, which looks festive enough to hang on a Christmas tree, is ginger!  Like hydrangea, red ginger puts out floral “bracts” at the end of stems.  The actual flower is a tiny bloom that emerges at the tip. So prized was this plant in early Polynesian history that leis of red ginger were worn by royalty for important occasions.

Well, today, I can think of a royal Person, who enjoyed the worship of angels in Heaven, yet visited earth in the form of a helpless baby. His true birthday, believed to be sometime in early spring, was officially “affixed” to December 25 at the end of the Third Century. That time of year already had pagan festivals honoring Saturn (the Roman god of agriculture) and Mithra (Persian god of light). Church officials apparently thought a same-time Christmas holiday would help non-believers accept Christianity as the empire’s official religion.

Before that, the significant Christian celebrations were Epiphany (Jan. 6) for the Magi worshiping the baby Jesus, and Easter (Passover time), for Jesus’ resurrection. Long ago, token gifts to one another celebrated the Magi’s gift-giving to the star-heralded baby. Those wealthy, foreign visitors didn’t know it, but the gold, frankincense and myrrh they left could be sold to finance the little family’s flight to safety in Egypt. The original idea of gift-giving didn’t come with furious shopping and debt.

As for ginger and Christmas, I think the idea of ginger leis is right on target. While we ought to be giving all to Jesus, He gave all to us, including the designation of a “royal priesthood.”  When I first read this verse in 1 Peter 2:9, I had to stop and think about what all of it means for me.  What we think we’re giving to Jesus, we might as well be offering dirty rocks wrapped in old newspapers. God sees His children this way:

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

It’s more than I can imagine, more than I deserve. But God, the greatest Giver, has abundant red ginger leis to drape around the necks of His children. The only requirement is to accept His offer of salvation through His son, and live out one’s connection to Jesus:

Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. (1 Peter 2:12)

 The day God visits us? It could be tomorrow!