Posts Tagged ‘jesus’

Comfort and Hope for the Bereaved, from One Who Has Been There: “When Scars Become Stories” by Pat Elsberry

February 18, 2026

The first time I read Pat Elsberry’s wonderfully comforting When Scars Become Stories, I likened her to the poet Vergil, who accompanied Dante through the torments of his famous Inferno. Upon re-reading her as she guides us through the grief journey, as she puts the experience of losing a loved one and its aftermath, I see that my initial comparison missed the mark.

Author Pat Elsberry

Vergil knew what to expect in the Inferno, but he had never been through it, never endured those awful punishments. But Pat Elsberry has been there. She suffered the wrenching loss of an adult daughter several years ago. She takes our hand and tells us what to expect, what we feel, how to accept those myriad feelings and how to cope – because she has done it all herself.

Also, the first time I read the book, I went straight through it in just a couple of sittings. It’s only 200 pages, broken up into 50 short chapters, each of which includes a summary reflection and a concluding prayer. However, reading it straight through is not the way to do it. Instead, make one chapter a part of your early-morning routine each day. That’s what I do, and that’s how I believe you can derive the greatest guidance and comfort from Pat.

Prayers, spiritual readings, grateful reflections on life already lived and on life yet to come – they’re all part of my own grief journey, now of more than six years’ duration. And I’m most appreciative to now have Pat Elsberry’s wisdom and strong faith in God to accompany me.

Perhaps a sample of Pat’s own words can tell it better. The following passage captures the essence of When Scars Become Stories, in my opinion. It’s from Chapter 13, whose title coincidentally is the same as that of the entire book:

“There are times when I look at the scars of my grief and feel the ache of loss all over again. They are tender reminders of a story I would never have chosen. But there are also times when I look at them and see beauty – a reminder that God has carried me, sustained me, and is weaving my story into something bigger that I can see. My scars have allowed me to connect with others in ways I could never have otherwise. They give me language to comfort those whose wounds are still raw, to say, ‘You are not alone. I have walked this road too, and God is with us.’  

“When scars become stories, they become gifts. They allow us to give away the comfort we ourselves have received. They allow us to bear witness to God’s faithfulness, to shine light into someone else’s darkness, and to remind the world that healing is possible.”

I can say unreservedly that those who are bereaved, whether recently or in years gone by, will find in When Scars Become Stories a renewed perspective and hope for the rest of their earthly journey, a hope that will sustain them until they are reunited with their loved ones in eternity.

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The Visit of the Magi on Twelfth Night: A Science Lesson from the Bible

January 5, 2024

“Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?”

That’s Sir Toby Belch, speaking to Feste the Clown in “Twelfth Night.”  During the Middle Ages, Christmas was a time of continuous feasting and merriment, which climaxed on Twelfth Night. The height of celebration became the night before, or eve, of Epiphany. The twelve day count actually begins with the night of December 25, the “first night.” The Twelfth Night is the night before Epiphany, and the twelfth day is Epiphany itself.

Food and drink are there in abundance. A punch called “wassail,” consumed during Christmastime, is especially plentiful on Twelfth Night. Around the world, special pastries, such as the tortell and king cake, are baked on Twelfth Night. They are eaten the following day for the Feast of the Epiphany celebrations. That’s why Sir Toby speaks of the cakes and ale.

So here we are on January 5, the Eve of the Christian Feast of the Epiphany. The Twelfth Night revelry commemorates the visit of the Magi, the “Wise Men” from the East who followed the Star of Bethlehem and found the baby Jesus. But who were those guys anyway? Is there any grain of historical truth to this biblical legend?

There may be. Here’s the rest of the story.

According to an op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal, the “magoi” were surveyors of the night sky. Caspar, Balthazar, and Melchior could be called astronomers, astrologers, or magicians. However you label them, they were probably real people. The Latin word “magi” is the pluralization of the Greek singular “magos,” which signifies to the Latin-speaking world a Persian priest or “wise man.” The “magos” to the Greeks also connoted someone who was a sorcerer.

The WSJ piece goes on to state that the three were seeking not only scientific knowledge of the stars and planets, but they were also looking for divine portents. They were probably priests of the Zoroastrian faith, whose studies of astrology were their attempts to understand the relationship of the powers in the universe to humans.

If this is what they were up to, they would have had good reason to set out on their journey. Right around the time of Jesus’s birth, in 7 B.C., there was a “planetary conjunction,” in which Jupiter and Venus came very close to each other. They stayed close together in the sky for the better part of a year. Then, even more dramatically four years later, they sat just one-tenth of degree apart in the sky. On the morning of August 12 in 3 B.C., Jupiter and Venus sat just 1/10th a degree apart in the dawn sky. That’s one-fifth the diameter of the Full Moon. They appeared to be a single body about one-fifth the diameter of the full moon.

We actually had a similar conjunction in December of 2020. I remember going to Millennium Park, a high point in West Roxbury, to view it. There were hundreds of people, crunching through the now and carrying telescopes and binoculars, there who had the same idea. We did indeed see the “Christmas Star” in what was referred to as the Great Conjunction of December 2020.

The Great Conjunction of 2020

So, to me anyway, it’s entirely plausible that these three wise men, scientists first and driven by their thirst for knowledge, did actually see something wonderful in the sky and hopped on their camels to find out what it was.

The Christian religion says that what they found was not an updated map of the sky, but another form of the ultimate good that they were seeking. They were the first people from a foreign land to see the God who had taken on a human nature in order to save humanity.

The Greek prefix “epi” can mean “upon” or “through;” think of how you use an epi-pen. And the Greek word “phaino” means “to appear;” you know what a “phenomenon” is.  Christians call January 6 the Feast of the Epiphany, because God “showed himself” through his human form for the first time.

Now you know the rest of the story, and whether or not you are a believer and whether or not your true love gives you twelve drummers drumming, may the peace and good will that we sang of in our Yuletide carols be with you and your loved ones this whole year through.

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