The last-minute Wise Man

He turned on his blinker and pulled his camel off the interstate. What a stressful trip — camels aren’t known for their speed or their comfort.  And the worst part was the honking trucks.  He wished there was a camel-only lane on I-20.

It was Christmas Eve and he needed to buy a gift. Immediately. And he had come from the east in search of a place to buy it.

He was a Wise Man, but still a man. That meant he had procrastinated and not bought his gift ahead of time like his wife told him to. (In all truth, she was the wise one in the family.).  He pulled onto Lakeland Drive and headed toward the glut of stores.  All were hoping to lure last minute shoppers like himself inside.  His head hurt under his purple turban.  He HATED shopping.

A car full of shepherds honked as they sat next to him at a traffic light. They were waving bags full of stuff.  He sighed. They hadn’t waited until  the last minute like he had. And there was the kid with his drum.   The Magi laughed — how many sleeping babies want to hear a beating drum? It doesn’t take a Wise Man to know that’ll make Mary mad as a hornet when the baby wakes up screaming.

He eased the camel into the first store’s parking lot.  He found a spot next to a Chevy and a Honda.  “I hope they didn’t hit the camel with their doors”, thought the Magi. Camels tend to spit back when whacked with a car door.  He followed the mass of men into the brightly lit mega-store.

The security system went off when he went through the door, causing suspicious stares from the other customers.  “What?!?” he said, “Haven’t you seen a man in a turban and purple robes before.”

It was Mississippi. They hadn’t.

He looked at the sea of shelves. His hunt for the proverbial needle in the haystack had begun. In the corner was a sobbing man, clutching a list in his wife’s handwriting.  Apparently he had found nothing on it. The man needed a Christmas Miracle. Santa couldn’t save him — he was Scrooged. To the right he noticed a display of Gift Cards.  That was as tempting as the Devil himself.  But getting Frankincense, Gold and a Gift Card just didn’t have much of a ring to it.  He grabbed a cart and took the plunge.

There was a Saints Snuggie. Now the child COULD use a Snuggie. He was in a manger after all.  The Wise Man threw it in the cart.  He noticed a bottle opener that played Jingle Bells. “Um, no,” he thought. He kept looking.

The shelves were picked over.  He found a jar of pickled pigs feet. No.  An ashtray with “Ford” on it. No.  A can of Spam.  No.

He swung his cart into the baby aisle.  He tossed some formula and diapers into the cart.  Sure, they were practical gifts, but it would be appreciated.  Then he grabbed a couple of baby outfits. They looked warm. Warm is good.  They were nice gifts but not worthy of this child. He kept looking.

The sobbing man was being comforted by a security guard as the Magi circled back around to the front. The Wise Man was about to join him.  He sighed and clutched his Bank of Bethlehem debit card.  The clock was ticking.  He began to sweat.

And then he saw a bright star outside the store window.  The Wise Man paid for what he had in his cart and went outside to hop on his camel.  He didn’t even turn on his Garmin. He just followed the bright light.

It came to the Wise Man: Gold! I will get the baby gold!  He guided the camel into a jewelry store parking lot. As he sat looking at the star, it occurred to him that it wasn’t about the gift. It was about the thought behind it.  Gold represented how precious he thought the Child was.  It wasn’t about stuff. It was about love.

The Wise Man eased the camel back onto Lakeland Drive. And then he smiled.  He had received a gift himself that night.