Babushka

“Work is the refuge of people who have nothing better to do.” ~Oscar Wilde, Irish poet, novelist, dramatist and critic (1854-1900)

Babushka kept her son’s toys stored away in a cupboard. He had died in infancy. Daily she busied herself tending house…cooking, cleaning, baking, washing. One day there was a knock at the door. She opened it to find the three Kings…the Magi. Since they traveled by night (to follow the star) they asked if they could sleep at Babushka’s house for the day as there was no inn in the small town. Babushka fed them and gave them a place to sleep until the sun set and the star reappeared.

As the Magi were preparing to leave that evening, Balthazar invited Babushka to come with them to find a new King they were seeking, but she replied that she was “too busy” and, after all, she needed some time to “find an appropriate gift”. After the Magi departed Babushka resumed doing those things with which she was most comfortable…sweeping, polishing, dusting, cleaning, but Balthazar’s invitation continued to tug at her. She went to the cupboard where the toys were stored and opened the door. After some consideration Babushka decided her son’s toys would make good gifts for the “new born King”, but, of course, they needed a thorough cleaning. She spent the rest of the night cleaning and polishing the toys. Once finished she planned to leave in the morning and catch up to the Magi while they slept during the day. Unfortunately, rather than leaving at daybreak, exhausted from her work, she fell asleep and did not awake until after night fall.

Realizing she was now almost two days behind the Magi she quickly packed up the toys and rushed out to find them. She followed their path from village to village, but arrived in Bethlehem too late…the Magi had “gone home another way” to avoid Herod. Likewise Joseph has spirited Mary and the baby Jesus away to Egypt to escape the “slaughter of the innocence”. Not knowing what else to do Babushka began to wander the world, and continues to do so every Christmas Eve. Still carrying her bag of toys, she gives them to small children in hopes one of them is the Christ child. Babushka is the Russian equivalent of Santa Clause.

As Americans we define ourselves by our work. Babushka, in modern terms, is a workaholic. When Balthazar offers Babushka the opportunity to come along to find the Christ child she is too busy with what she sees as important: work. Work is more than just work though. It is her security blanket. Going to find the baby Jesus means doing something to which she is unaccustomed…stepping out of her comfort zone. Work for Babushka and for us means security because we know what we are supposed to do and how we are supposed to do it and…it makes a convenient excuse. “Oh sorry I can’t help with that, I have to work.” “Gee I would love to come, but I have to work.” I am not suggesting we should all quit our jobs and spend our days at church, but as one noted psychologist put it, “If you want to know what is really important to someone observe how they spend their time.”

We are often so busy with our work…with what we think is important…that we fail to hear God’s call. The Gospels call us to set aside life’s distractions, particularly work: “And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.” (Mark 4:18-22)

Jesus calls his disciples and they set aside their work to follow Him “immediately”. As Stewards of our time we are called upon to find a balance in our lives. If we are going to follow Him we are, at times, going to have to set some things aside. In a way Jesus is saying, “Put down your nets before you get tangled in them” which describes many of us. We have become entangled in the net we call work, so much so, we do not know any other way to function. We sometimes need to be reminded work was a punishment, not a blessing, which God visited on mankind in the Garden of Eden.

“Leaving our nets behind” also means dropping the “psychological baggage” which we often drag along with us. Babushka loses her infant son and she addresses her pain by distracting herself with work. “Leaving our nets behind” means leaving behind the pain, hurts, resentments, fear, dishonesty, self-pity, intolerance, and anger which continue to make us unhappy. In short it means being good stewards of and to ourselves.

As Christian Stewards how we spend our time is important…it is a gift from God. How will we spend this Christmas? Will we be too busy with other things to notice our greatest gifts? Will we become entangled in our own nets complaining we are too busy? Will we allow old resentments, fears and hurts to hold us back from experiencing the love which is readily available to us? Will we be like Babushka who is so distracted by her work she ultimately encounters an empty stable and spends the rest of her days trying to find happiness?

Let us put down our nets and come to the manger this Christmas…Jesus is waiting for us.

Dear Lord, remind me this Christmas that your Son calls me to something greater than myself.

“One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important” Bertrand Russell, English logician and philosopher (1872-1970)

© 2009 James E. Carper. All rights reserved.
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