“Yes, Ma’am,” William said. “But how does she know where Clarence lived?” he whispered under his breath.
Mildred got out of the car, rushed into the apartment building and up the flight of stairs, with William right behind her. She knocked on the apartment door. A woman opened it. She looked at Mildred and then recognized William.
William said, “Margaret, I don’t know if you’ve met Miss Mildred. She was a friend of Clarence’s.”
“Miss Mildred,” she said, surprised.
“Yes, I’m Miss Mildred... I want to see Clarence…” Mildred paused as Margaret began to cry. Mildred then realized that Clarence was, indeed, gone. But it had seemed so real.
She slowly turned towards the stairs. She paused, turned back again and said, “Margaret, would you come to my house and have Christmas with me?”
By that time, the entire family was gathered around the doorway. “Oh, that is so kind, Miss Mildred. But all the children and grandchildren are home for Christmas and I’ve got a ham and fixin’s cooking, and…”
“I would like all of you to come,” Mildred interrupted. “Would you do that for me and for Clarence?”
Margaret smiled, “For you and for Clarence, please come and have Christmas with us. Clarence was the best man who walked this earth, except, of course, our precious Lord. He had a powerful belief in God and found God in just about everything. Miss Mildred, before he died, he told me one day you’d come. He had already talked it over with the Lord.” Margaret smiled as she shook her head in amazement. “And here you are!”
Mildred looked at Clarence’s family, and said, “I can see Clarence and the God he believed in in all of you. I would be honored to have Christmas with you.”
***
The next morning Mildred stood on her patio. She looked down and could not believe her eyes. There was her prize-winning rosebush, brown and pruned for the winter. But there, right in the middle of the bush, was one beautiful rose.
Cupping it gently in her hands she said softly, “Thank you Clarence, for helping me find God.” She stood up and greeted God as she had done for so many mornings, but this time…”Good morning, God, it’s wonderful to know you are there.”
A gust of wind whistled through the trees overhead.
Mildred smiled. In the rush of wind she heard, “God can be found in a thankful heart, Miss Mildred.”
The Bethlehem Plot
“Your Majesty, there are three astrologers from the East wishing an audience.”
“Astrologers! Tell them I have my own astrologers and sorcerers and plenty of scribes. I need no further protection. Send them away.”
“But your Majesty, they have come a great distance.”
“A great distance! No distance is a great distance to see King Herod! Give them new sandals and send them home.” Herod roared with laughter.
“…but your Majesty, they speak of the Great Star and have filled Jerusalem with rumors because of their questions, asking “Where is the newborn King of the Jews?”
Herod choked on his wine, “An infant King, the Great Star? Send them in, you fool!”
The three astrologers, showing signs of a long journey, entered the throne room and bowed low before Herod. They introduced themselves simply as Melchior, Balthasar and Gaspar, three men following the star.
“An infant King? Where?” Herod rudely interrupted.
“We are not sure,” said Gaspar. “When the Great Star first appeared in the Heavens, it stood still over our country. Then it began to move and now, for five new moons, we have followed. One night, tired and discouraged, we camped near an oasis. ‘Why are we following a star?’ we questioned.
But that night we met a holy man who knew of the star and the prophecy concerning it: ‘O little town of Bethlehem, you are not just an unimportant Judean village, for a governor shall rise from you to rule my Israel…therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign. ‘Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel.’
Pointing to the Great Star, the holy man said, ‘That’s the sign. When it comes to rest, there you will find He who is called Emmanuel.’ At last the star came to rest over Bethlehem as promised.”
“Why have you come to me?” snapped, Herod.
“We thought that the great King Herod might know where in Bethlehem the babe is to be found,” said Balthazar. “Can you help us?”
“Help…help,” stammered Herod, his mind racing. “Why certainly, but first some food, and drink…”
Melchior interrupted, “Your Majesty, our long trip has made us impatient. We seek to fill our souls, not our bellies!”
“Now, you wouldn’t like to disappoint the King, would you?” Herod’s mouth curled up in a sneer. He clapped his hands and howled, “Food and drink for my guests!”
Reluctantly, the three astrologers followed Herod’s servant into an adjoining room. After they were gone, Herod assembled all the chief priests and scribes. “Is it true?” He screamed. “An infant King to be born here in my Kingdom?”
One of the chief priests, holding the sacred scroll in his hands, slowly stepped forward and hesitantly said, “So it is written, your Majesty.”
Herod’s face became red, his lips tightened and his eyes shifted from corner to corner. They all knew that look. Herod was plotting something monstrous.
Finally, an evil smile spread across his face. He summoned his guests and said to them, “My scribes and chief priests are unable to tell me the exact location of this child. But go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found Him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship Him.”
Herod then said farewell to his guests, withdrew to his bedroom and sent for the Captain of the Palace Guard. When the Captain arrived, he found Herod down on his knees, hitting the floor with his fists and screaming like a mad man, “God will not do this to me. I will not let Him. He’s trying to take my throne, but I won’t let Him!” Herod stopped for a moment and looked up at his Captain. He told the Captain to follow the strangers from the East and “when you find the child, kill Him and all present.” The Captain saluted Herod and was off on his mission of murder.
***
Beneath Herod’s window rested a blind beggar named Albathar. He loitered near the palace hoping for royal handouts. He overheard Herod’s conversation, but paid little attention. He had overheard so many conversations of terror from that room that little shocked him. All he wanted to do was sleep and keep warm in the cool Judean night air.
Albathar’s eyes began to burn. He sat up, rubbing them. Squinting and rubbing, he looked upward and saw a light. The more he rubbed, the brighter the light became. He stood on his feet and stared in amazement. He could see, and his first sight was of the heavens and the Great Star. He looked at his hands, arms and feet. He jumped around yelling, “I can see, I can see.”
He stood back and looked at the palace wall. The trees and bushes were all just as he had imagined. He danced around and around. He became so dizzy he fell flat on his back, laughing like a man without any sense. Then he heard something. He stopped laughing and listened to the wind as it whispered through the trees, “He brings sight to the blind, E-M-M-A-N-U-E-L, E-M-M-A-N-U-E-L.”
Albathar sat up and repeated what he thought he had heard, “He brings sight to the blind, Emmanuel, Emmanuel.” The wind then whispered, “Slay him and all present - Emmanuel.” Albathar made the connection. He jumped to his feet and rushed down the hill, shouting, “I must warn them!”
***
On the road leading into Bethlehem, Albathar overtook the visitors from the East. He knew they were the ones Herod spoke of because Herod’s henchmen were trailing them. He told them who he was and what had happened to him and what he overheard Herod say to his captain. The astrologers said that an angel had appeared to them upon leaving the Palace and warned them about Herod, but they were undecided on what to do.
“What shall we do, my son?”
said Melchior. “If we go and find the babe, it will mean His certain death. But we’ve come so far. We feel that what we have for the child is important or the star would never have led us here. What shall we do?”
“Do you know where the babe is?” questioned Albathar.
“The Angel said that He is still in the womb of His mother, who is riding on a donkey on the North road leading into the city,” answered Balthasar.
“He’s not yet born?” interrupted Albathar.
“No,” replied Balthasar.
“That makes matters more difficult. We must act fast. Do you have a servant you can trust?” asked Albathar.
Melchior called over a servant and said, “This is Tobias. We can trust him with our very lives!”
Albathar gave Tobias instructions and sent him on his way under cover of a moonless night. Albathar turned to the others, smiling, “We’ll surely have a surprise for the great King Herod.” They gathered around Albathar and he explained his plan. After he finished with his instructions, he slipped silently away and the others went on their way as if nothing had happened. Herod’s men followed behind.
***
Albathar entered Bethlehem as he had all his life - a begging blind man, but this time he was just pretending.
He walked into the crowded inn, which was owned by his friend Josiah and began to ask for alms. Josiah came up to Albathar and said, “Albathar, this is not good for business. You bring sadness and gloom into my place. The people are happy and want to forget their problems.”
“If I had a place to stay this night, I would not need to beg or to be sad and gloomy.”
“Albathar, I have no room. You heard the decree. There is not even floor space this night.”
“What about the stable? There a poor beggar would find warmth and some comfort,” Albathar suggested.
“Well all right,” said Josiah, “if you promise not to bother the animals.”
“They can see, I cannot.”
Josiah sighed, “All right, all right, just for the night.”
Albathar thanked Josiah and worked his way out of the crowded inn. Once outside, he ran to the road.
“Where are they?” he thought impatiently. He paced back and forth like a caged animal. Finally, he could see something approaching far down the road. Up the road came three people, one riding a donkey.
“Is it them?” wondered Albathar. In the light of the Great Star he recognized Tobias and when Tobias saw it was Albathar, he said, “These are the ones the Great Star has guided! This is Joseph and his wife, Mary.”
“You have done well, finding them and bringing them to where I instructed you,” said Albathar.
“It was the Great Star,” Tobias said. “Whenever there was a fork in the road, the Great Star seemed to light up the path I should take, and so it led me directly to them and then us to you.”
“Come, we must move quickly,” said Albathar, as he took the reins of the donkey and led the special family to the stable. Tobias and Albathar went into the stable and lit candles for light. They then fixed a place in the hay for Mary.
Mary sat down on a bale of hay and held her stomach. She looked at Joseph and smiled. “It is time, my husband,” she said softly.
Tobias and Albathar went outside and closed the stable doors so that Mary and Joseph could have their privacy at this most precious moment. The two men looked at the Great Star; they jumped back as if retreating from a blazing fire. A point of the Great Star reached down and touched the stable, setting it aglow. It was as though at that moment God reached down and touched His creation.
***
On the other side of Bethlehem, the three astrologers and their servants rode into the city with Herod’s men right behind them. They came to a large and beautiful house.
They stopped their camels, dismounted and approached the front door carrying precious gifts in their hands. No sooner had they knocked on the door than Herod’s men overtook them with drawn swords.
The soldiers pushed the three men aside and rushed into the house. Instead of a babe, they found Elders of the synagogue sitting around discussing the law.
The soldiers were furious. They had been tricked! They ran from the house and seized the men from the East. In the scuffle, they discovered that the men they had been tracking were not the astrologers, but their servants dressed in their masters’ fine clothes. They raised their swords in anger, ready to slay the imposters, but were stopped by the Elders’ servants rushing out with their swords drawn. Outnumbered and cursing like his King, the Captain ordered his men to mount up, and off they went to face the unpleasant job of informing King Herod about what had happened.
“Heads will roll,” yelled the Captain as he rode away.
***
Back at the stable, Albathar and Tobias waited for news from Joseph. Emerging from the shadows was a group of men. One of them cried out, “We did it, Albathar, we did it!” It was Melchior, Balthasar and Gaspar dressed up in shepherds’ clothing, accompanied by the real shepherds who had led the men to the stable. “Your plan worked beautifully,” said Gaspar.
“I see you met the shepherds I sent to see you,” said Albathar as he laughed and hugged his new friends. “You don’t look too bad as shepherds.”
“Or you as a blind beggar who can see,” quipped Melchior.
They all laughed. Behind them, the stable doors opened and Joseph motioned for them to come in.
“Who is he?” asked Balthasar. “And why does he want us to go into a stable?”
“That is Joseph, the father of the infant king. Mary, the mother, is inside. And the stable, that was my idea. King Herod would never think to look in a stable for the child.”
“Ingenious, Albathar, ingenious!” said Gaspar.
They slowly went into the stable, nervously fussing and straightening their clothing. Young and old, they sensed the holiness that was all about them. They moved like a flock of sheep to the center of the stable and then they saw Mary. So young, thought the astrologers, with so much responsibility.
Their eyes fell upon the child resting in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes. In reverence, they kneeled and bowed their heads in prayer. Never before had they felt so close to God.
Melchior steadied himself as his old bones carried his tired frame to the child. From beneath his shepherd’s clothing he brought out a box of gold and laid it at the Babe’s feet. Balthasar brought forth his gift of myrrh and Gaspar, frankincense. The shepherds laid bread and cheese near the Babe and the smallest shepherd boy reached out and touched the Babe’s cheek and smiled at Mary. She smiled back.
Albathar was so happy he cried. He had received so much from God that night although he had nothing to give the Babe. Such a glorious night.
A new day was dawning and with it came word that Herod knew of their trickery and was screaming for blood. An angel appeared to Joseph and instructed him to take his family to Egypt, far from the bloody hands of Herod. The gifts from the three astrologers would make the trip possible. They all said their farewells and departed on their separate ways…
***
The next night, Albathar stood alone on the hillside which overlooked the stable. He was thinking about the friends he had made, the Babe he had seen with his own eyes and the Great Star...the Great Star? Albathar looked up. It was fading. Albathar rubbed his eyes. They burned. Everything was fading. “Oh no,” he cried, “I’m going blind again. Oh God, how could you do this to me?”
Albathar rolled in the grass, moaning at his misfortune. He felt his way to a nearby tree and there, leaning up against its trunk, he cried. What was ahead of him now? A life of begging? All his dreams, all his plans were gone as was the Great Star that took his sight with it. He sobbed and cried himself to sleep.
The first light of morning struck his face. He didn’t want to open his eyes for in sleep every man is blind. He refused to open his eyes or move from his spot.
But he heard a distu
rbing sound. Someone was crying. Such a cry, a cry of deep grief. He had heard such a cry only at the pit of the lepers. He sat up and moved towards the sound. He felt his way along until he found its source. It was someone…a woman…lying across a large rock, crying.
Grabbing her shoulder, he lifted her face and said, “Why are you crying so?”
“Do you not know what has happened in Bethlehem?” she sobbed.
Forgetting his blindness, he replied, “Certainly, something wonderful! An infant King has been born, but that is reason to laugh, not cry. What else has happened?” He shook the woman.
“This night, King Herod has killed all the male infants in Bethlehem. Blood runs through the streets like water after a hard rain.” She sat up and looked Albathar in the eyes. Seeing that he was blind, she said, “Thank God that you cannot see, for sight last night was a curse, not a blessing.”
And so another prophecy came true:
“A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” Jeremiah 31:15
***
Many years had passed since that eventful night. Albathar remained blind, but he was a beggar no longer. He walked from town to town, giving instead of receiving. He was blind, but instead of cursing God, he gave Him thanks. Such courage! His testimony was a tribute to God, and so many received strength because of Albathar’s courage.
One day in the autumn of his life, he rested near a well just outside Jerusalem. He wiped his sweaty brow and felt for the bucket to fetch some water. His hand fell instead onto someone else’s hand. He grasped the hand. It was strong, but gentle. It held Albathar’s hand firmly and pulled him up off the well wall. Albathar squinted and rubbed his eyes with his free hand. His eyes burned as they had at the time of the Great Star.
Albathar could see something... a face, yes a face... a face that was becoming clearer by the moment.
When his sight was fully restored, he was staring into the eyes of a man. His eyes blazed as did the Great Star, thought Albathar. He recognized those eyes. He had seen them many years before – it was the Babe, grown into a man.
The man smiled and put his hand up to Albathar’s face and brushed back the hair from his eyes.