Three Kings Days past recalled in wise words

I grew up in a world without Santa, which doesn't mean that there were no presents at Christmastime - just that one had to wait until Three Kings Day on Jan. 6. Patience was not plentiful among us children during that long wait, and a common pastime was to spend those days torturing the youngest and most credulous with the certainty that they would receive a lump of coal as confirmation of their worthlessness.

I had a private fear: would the Three Kings and their camels find the way to our homes without a star? The night of Jan. 5 in my hometown at the foot of the Alpujarras Mountains in Southern Spain would sometimes descend on us intensely cold and dark, heightening the terror of contact with the supernatural and divine.

Writings regarding the possible historicity of the Three Kings include suggestions that the Star of Bethlehem was a real astronomical event, and biblical enumeration of the specific nature of the three gifts that those Kings, the Magi, offered Jesus.

The gift of gold we understand. But incense, myrrh?

Last Dec. 20 at 8:30 in the morning, I walked into the former Montauk Avenue Baptist Church, now the New London Church of Life, with Teatro Latino's actor Erick Carrión, to join a small group being greeted by a young Hispanic woman. I had read that this group performed a Latin-American religious ritual that involved dance, and I wanted to see what my actors might learn from this activity.

We climbed upstairs to a small, colorful room, where the young woman, instructor Evelyn Reyes, directed her followers' attention to a quotation from St. Paul, which had been written on a whiteboard hanging above the instructor. Everyone read aloud:

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience." (Letter to the Colossians, 3:12-13)

After a reminder to memorize the quotation, the music started and everyone began exercising. As Evelyn told me later, the Zumba, created by a Colombian in 1990, combines 28 varieties of dance: including salsa, bachata, rap, hip-hop - even flamenco and belly dancing. She offers this class gratis (after becoming licensed as a Zumba instructor last September) as "My ministry to God. There are days when I don't feel like showing up, but I come for Him."

Participants gather in a circle after dancing, and Evelyn asks who remembers the quotation. I knew it in Spanish and recited it. Evelyn then offers members the opportunity to lead the group in prayer and to name a person who needs one. Someone mentions a friend who is in the hospital.

"This is my way of giving back to the community: a spiritual gift, a chance to work at being healthy and to pray together," says Evelyn.

I returned to Zumba the following week, accompanied by Erick and his little sister, Coralys. I noticed that there was another letter by Paul, repeating the word "patience." Who chooses the biblical texts, and why? I asked.

"I do, guided by what participants need," replied Evelyn. "Rose-Marie Josiah told me last month that she needed help acquiring patience. We all do. When there is a catastrophe people become nice and help others. But soon they forget."

The Three Kings knew well what the child Jesus would need in this world besides gold: myrrh for physical health, and incense for spiritual strength. And right here, inviting us to join a group that is having fun while working patiently to remind us that spiritual gifts, even in times of relative calm, should top our wish list.

Resurrección Espinosa is director of Teatro Latino de New London. A revised edition of her book, El Gaucho Vegetariano and Other Plays for Students of Spanish, will be published this spring by University Press of America.