We Three Kings

It has taken me a few years to figure this out but I will abbreviate it here for you.

As you come up Sheridan Road headed north the road curves at Loyola, a Jesuit Catholic university, just before Devon Avenue. In front of the university is a life size manger scene with a life size Mary and Joseph. Mary is standing there with her arms extended ... but empty. My first thought was, "Oh how sad, someone stole the baby Jesus." I didn't give it much more thought.

The next time I drove by I noticed that there were three Kings strung out about 25 yards away from each other about half block north of the manger. My first thought was, "Oh how sad, someone has been playing with the statues." or "Maybe someone tried to steal the statues but they were chained down and could only be moved so far."

The next year I noticed the same phenomenon. Being the "nice Jewish boy that I am" don't ask me how I figured this one out. Maybe it was obvious? Maybe it was the power of observation over time.

Here is the secret. Next time I drove by it was after Christmas. The baby Jesus was resting peacefully in Mary's arms and the Kings were much closer. A week later the Kings were circled around the nativity. I guess that the baby doesn't show up in Mary's arms until December 24th after midnight mass and it takes a little longer for the Kings to arrive after having seen the star.

A small gesture on behalf of Loyola, but a wonderful one. Merry Christmas!