Who Needs Five Golden Rings, Anyway?

On the Fifth Day of Christmas…

Even if we can’t keep track of the drummers drumming or the lords a’leaping, we know that today our true love will give us “five golden rings.” We can experience the song performed by a glorious orchestra and choir, but for a good laugh, try the “Straight No Chaser” version or this hilarious live-action skit which has been view more than 2 million times on YouTube.

Two things about the old tradition stand out to me this year. First, don’t miss the preposition of. These are not 12 days after Christmas, as if Christmas ended at midnight on the 25th. We live in the continuing celebration of the joy, love and hope that became flesh in Bethlehem. 

The 12 days lead to Epiphany on January. 6. Although sadly desecrated by the Trump-inspired insurrection at the Capitol, the Church celebrates the day as the “revelation” of Christ to the whole world. It is symbolized by the coming of those mysterious “magi”, “kings,” or “wise men” who searched for the new-born King. We don’t know where they came from, where they went, or how many there are, but we know the gifts they brought. We know that gold, frankincense, and myrrh didn’t come cheap! We know they gave their gifts in honor of the Christ Child and to be used for his Kingdom. And we know they “rejoiced with exceeding great joy.” (Matt 2:10)

Second, don’t miss that the song is all about giving. What on earth would the recipient do with all those partridges, doves, hens, geese, calling birds and swans? That’s a lot of poultry! But the outward expression of ”true love” is always to give, and, in this case, to give extravagantly with great joy!

The Gifts of a Wise Woman

It still happens. Not just during the 12 days of Christmas, but whenever and wherever wise people discover the joy of a generous life. 

Dorothy Ebersbach was not a magi or a king, but she was a very wise woman. She was born in 1915 while the world was at war.  She was seventeen when the family went to the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair where she and her father took a ride in a seaplane. The thrill of that moment never left her.  She earned her private pilot’s license six years later.  

After Pearl Harbor, Dorothy was one 1,800 women from over 25,000 applicants who were accepted into the newly-formed Women’s Airforce Service Pilots.  More than 700 of those women didn’t make it through basic training, but Dorothy did.  She spent the war years ferrying new planes from factories to military bases, testing recently repaired planes, and towing targets for the male pilots to practice their dog-fight skills. Finally, in 2010, the WASPS were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for their service. Because Dorothy could not travel to Washington, they brought the medal to her.

After the war, Dorothy graduated from the nursing school and worked as a public health nurse in Tampa.  She never married and never earned a large salary, but she managed her money wisely, just the way Wesley taught the early Methodists to do it!  She lived modestly in the little, white-framed house her father built in the 1930’s. Every year her financial commitment to her church was one of the first ones to come in.  She consistently gave to other ministries in the community and to the nursing school from which she graduated.  When her former pastor, Lloyd Knox, was elected a Bishop of the United Methodist Church, Dorothy established a scholarship in his honor at Florida Southern College.  

When she died at 96, her estate included a major gift to the The Dorothy Ebersbach Academic Center for Flight Nursing at Case Western Reserve University. Her bequest to Hyde Park United Methodist Church was the largest gift that had ever been given to the Endowment Fund. It is providing scholarships for seminary students preparing for ministry today. Dorothy never had children of her own, but future generations of youth will be blessed by her gifts to the Florida United Methodist Children’s Home and the Warren Willis Camp.

With all of that, the thing I will always remember about Dorothy is her infectious laughter and the relentless joy that flowed through her life.  Like those magi, she found exceeding great joy in living wisely and generously. You might say she lived the 12 days of Christmas every day of the year! 

Who really needs five golden rings anyway?

Merry Christmas!

Jim

P.S. One option for planning for generosity as Dorothy did is the Florida United Methodist Foundation.