Happenings
By Carolyn Adriaansen (926-4436)

Christmas Eve Services - Marion United Church, Sunday at 6 p.m.

Second Reformed Church at 7 p.m.

Bea Hermenet is recuperating at home following surgery.

Thanks to those who responded with toys and stuffed animals for children in abused families. There will be many happy children on Christmas morning.

Congratulations to Sammy and Michelle (Barton) Summerville who were married at the United Church, on December 9.

Betty Stevens has returned home after a hospital stay.

Children and adults joined the choir at the United Church as they went Christmas Caroling on December 21. They met at the Armstrong Senior Living Center in Newark, and returned to the church later for refreshments.

Happy Birthday Wishes to Florence Johnson on her birthday on December 23.

December 25, 1947: The Christmas decorations for the front windows at Marion Central School were made possible by action of the Board of Education. Mrs. Mary Freeman, former teacher of art in Marion, was engaged to draw the patterns and to supervise the student work.

FRANKINCENSE AND MYRRH Matthew 2:11 Frankincense is a resin obtained by making a cut into the bark of a tree called Arbor Thuris. This causes a white, gummy substance to come out which becomes hard in a short time upon exposure to the air.

It burns readily and gives out a definite and somewhat agreeable odor. The Hebrews used it by itself as well as mingled with other ingredients to make a pleasant smelling oil for anointing priests, and for use on some of the sacred furniture of the Tabernacle (Leviticus 24:78), and even within the Holy of Holies (Exodus 30:34ff). It was also burned as incense.

Myrrh is a substance obtained from a tree in the same manner as frankincense. It is mentioned in Exodus 30:22-33 as being, in liquid form, one of the ingredients of a 'Holy anointing oil' with which the furniture within the Tabernacle was anointed. The priests also were anointed with this holy oil. The wood and bark of the tree which produces myrrh has a strong odor. Myrrh was sometimes used in the preparation of perfumes, and in embalming the bodies of the dead. Like some other resins it has medicinal value, and ancient Greek physicians employed it as an external local remedy. Both myrrh and frankincense, together with a variety of spices, were brought to Palestine from Arabia. Both frankincense and myrrh are still in use today for medical purposes.

We are told in the Bible (Matthew 2:11) that 'Wise Men from the East' brought to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. These Wise Men were stargazers, possibly from a priestly caste in Media, and were skilled in astrology. Their journey from Media to Jerusalem may have followed the Arabian spice trade routes, and some scholars have thought it probable that they engaged in trading along the way, bringing to Bethlehem gifts from their precious cargo.

Some people like to think of frankincense, with its rising fragrant smoke, as symbolizing prayer lifted to God. Myrrh, bitter to the taste, is thought of as symbolizing the passion of Jesus.