title: The Modern Magi: A Christmas Fable
author:  Carol Lynn Pearson 
description: Pearson's (A Stranger for Christmas) simplistic Christian fable concerns an unremarkable woman who finds that faith enables her to do the most remarkable things. Annabelle Perkins, a 57-year-old unmarried waitress with a weak heart, is set on visiting the Holy Land in order to bring "to the baby Jesus" the gift of a bronze ("but really gold, as gold as the gold of the Magi") lamb her deceased mother has left her. She tells the travel agent, Mr. Olson, that she doesn't need to see Jerusalem, only Bethlehem, and when she leaves his agency she feels suddenly empowered: "She was one of the Magi on a fabulous journey." She scrimps and savesAyet when she finally has enough to pay off the ticket, she discovers that someone else has a greater need of the money. Prompted by the voice of her mother, she gives the money away. Another year passes, and another needier case warrants her hard-earned savings, though Mr. Olson unaccountably informs her that her ticket has been paid in full. Pearson's tale is a kind of Simple Heart for believers; but its mawkish sentimentality combined with wooden and clich?-ridden prose should limit its audience to those who like their doses of spiritual uplift in childlike portions. <br />Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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  # Christmas in the City
  
  
  ## A Christmas Romance Collection
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Jill Barnett
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [![Gnarly Wool Publishing](../Images/image00198.jpeg)
  
  
  ![Gnarly Wool Publishing](../Images/image00197.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  _All rights reserved._
  
  
  No part of this publication may be sold, copied, distributed, reproduced or
  transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical or digital, including
  photocopying and recording or by any information storage and retrieval system
  without the prior written permission of both the publisher, Oliver Heber Books
  and the author, Jill Barnett except in the case of brief quotations embodied
  in critical articles and reviews.
  
  
  PUBLISHER'S NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and
  incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used
  fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business
  establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
  
  
  "Danie