People have given numbers symbolic meaning over time and the Twelve Days of Christmas are as good a time as any to reflect on those meanings.
Here on the fifth day, we need only look at our hands to see the meaning of five. Five is the number of a working man: we have five fingers on our hands and traditionally five senses. Bad men want more than human power, beware the man who thinks he is a six (!), or behaves like brutes, being less than a man (a mere four!).
Each of our senses, each part of the human being is a gift of God, and we are called to use the totality of our being in work. Any culture that fills with parasites or people who do little work, but profit off the work of others, are in trouble. Even during our holiday, Hope and I will drop by the school and do some cleaning, some work, because even a holiday needs work.
Work can be part of the curse, a grinding, grasping attempt to survive or to accumulate wealth. Work is also part of the blessing of an unfallen world: tending the garden of God, naming his animals, and talking with each other. This work is productive and helps us rest. The best work, and the best workplaces, unite all the gifts of a human being. Use all the senses, all the gifts of a man, and you will make a better man and see great things.
Work for Scrooge and you are motivated by the fear of losing your situation. Work for a man like Fezziwig and you work because you are human and becoming more human by the day! Scrooge could never pay for what Fezziwig will call forth for free, because when men become men their work becomes amazing. The full image of God is called out in the worker and the worker creates as God created.
The five fingers of the one human hand are a powerful political symbol. Tyrants use the clenched fist, the five made a powerful one, as a symbol for their unity based on force. Good rulers see e pluribus unum: out of many, one. The symbol of the Christian ruler must always be the open hand or the hand engaged in work. The Christian leader does not sit back while others do the dirty work. The real human being loves doing and will be out doing at all times.
Some forms of recreation unite the full human. The discipline of dance or the mastering of an instrument is not practical, but is what the practical things allow us time to do if we are so blessed. As the holiday continues, I am reminded of the need for humans to dance, sing, or play an instrument. This is very special and human work. It brings together all the senses as almost nothing else can do. As my wife plays the trumpet (Joy to the World!) the fingers of her hand coordinate to make music. Each part her soul and her body unite. She is fully human.
There is something jolly about jumping about to music: children love it and there is no harm in it for adults. However, the glory of adulthood should be in mastering a dance, something patterned and orderly. We lose something when we leave all the dancing to the professionals! The same thing is true of music making: I can easily stream music by professionals throughout my house at a voice command, but it was much more fun to hear so many members of my family messing about with instruments on Christmas Day.
They had hands and were using them to create a joyful noise.
Of course, it is the hand, the fingers, that receive the ring that symbolizes marriage unity, ties to alma mater in the school ring, or military service. The ring, the living symbol of eternity, reminds us that at our best, people are creatures of this time, but also of eternity. We work for paradise and not merely for this life. Five golden rings is a lovely symbol, a ring for each finger, of a whole human being decorated for eternity with love.
Let’s do the work of merry making and so build a civilization fit for men.
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