‘Just Chillin’ A little History...& More! Upbeat January … The Pursuit of the New, in Year 2017!


by Ellie Schmidt ~ eschmidt@upbeattimes.com


Sonoma County, CA. ~ Every year, perhaps because of the exuberant ances- tral Austrian


cel-


ebrations of Twelſt h Night, it is now a tra- dition in our house, to toast a “Happy January 27th Birth- day,


Wolfgang!”


Better known as Wolfi e or Amadeus Mozart—2017 is his 261st!--Or, as KDFC occasionally gives a shout out to “Mighty Mo!”


gold, oſt en symbolized as vir- tue. Melchior, the middle-aged one


from Arabia,


who brings frankin- cense, the perfume of prayer. T e young- est is Balthazar, from Saba--south Yemen, who brings myrrh, anointing


oil that


also symbolizes suf- fering and presages embalming oil. When I was a child singing in a choir, we


If


you need a real spiritual upliſt , listen to your choice of the best recordings of Mozart’s exquisite “Ave Verum.” Incredibly moving and magnifi cent. Twelſt h Night is on January


6th: Epiphany,--when the T ree Wise Men, the Biblical Magi, arrive and give giſt s to the Baby Jesus. T ey were Caspar, the old- est, King of Tarsus, who off ers


looked forward to the annual, charming party during which our pastor told the same story each year: “T e Story of the Oth- er Wise Man” by Henry van Dyke (1895). It tells about a “fourth” wise man who carries a sapphire, a great pearl, and a ruby to give as giſt s to the Child. T is Magi was called Artaban, from Persia. Because he stops to help a dy- ing man, Artaban misses joining


the caravan of three. He has to sell one of his treasures to buy camels and supplies


to cross the des- ert alone. When he arrives in Bethle-


hem, he discovers


he missed seeing the Child be- cause the Holy Fam- ily had to fl ee to Egypt. Ar- taban saves the life of a sick child by selling another of his treasures before he goes on to Egypt and other countries searching for the Child but giv- ing charity in many acts of kind-


ness. His ultimate act of charity is to pay to prevent a woman from being sold into slav- ery, when he arrives in Jerusalem


aſt er Jesus has died. Artaban’s


giſt s of lov- ing kindness are accepted when Arta- ban himself dies; and the Other Wise Man has found his King. Many artists,


musicians


and writers admired van Dyke’s story of Artaban and were infl uenced by it. Born in 1852, Henry van Dyke ... continued on page 17


UPBEAT TIMES, INC. • January 2017 • 5 JOKES & Humor # 2


A recent scientifi c study showed that out of 2,293,618,367 people, 94% are too lazy to actually read that number.


Daughter: “Dad, did you know that girls are smarter than boys?”


~


Dad: “No, I didn’t know that. “ Daughter: “There you go!”


Husband: “Oh the weather is lovely today. Shall we go out for a quick jog?“


~


Wife: “Hahaha, I love the way you pronounce ‘Shall we go out and have a cake’!”


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UPBEAT TIMES, INC. • January 2017 • 5


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