THE MAGII--A YOU-ARE-THERE REFLECTION
And we hereby resume our Advent Reflections, even though we are in the Christmas Octave, or some put it--the 12 Days of Christmas. More time to celebrate and worship!
It was a long journey, one I knew I would never take again, for I am an old man now without the long and flexible legs needed to ride a camel for weeks and weeks.
Did I say it was a long journey? Did I say we traveled through sandstorms, dust, ice on the ground, and over rocky hills without any green? Did I tell you that we talked little among us--Caspar, Balthazar, and I, Melchior, intent only on our destination?
We had agreed to travel together because of our wonder at the star blazing in the sky. It called to us. Caspar believed we were being asked to journey far. Balthazar was clear we needed to bring gifts, as he said the star foretold the birth of a great king. I was clear about nothing, except that we must have good mounted camels to carry us the distance.
We ate hard bread, dried digs, and drank water from our wineskins. We slept wrapped in our cloaks, huddled beneath a small tent staked out. Our water was almost gone when we reached Jerusalem, and as a mark of respect, requested an audience with King Herod, who we had heard was a hard and stony man.
Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw his star in the East and have come to worship him, I said, in a voice hoarse from thirst.
The King, who should have given us food and wine, strode off in a rage, calling to his men to gather the chief priests and teachers of the law...he asked them where the Christ was to be born. In Bethlehem in Judea, they answered.
I saw his face when he received this news. It crumpled in upon itself as if nothing could ever escape the tough wrinkles, and a smell emanated from him which I have scented in battle--the metallic smell of hatred.
The King spoke to us again, asking about the time the star appeared; he requested that we go to Bethlehem, find the child, and bring news to him so he could worship him too. But I knew those words were false.
We mounted our weary camels and began the journey to Bethlehem, which was not far. We had no trouble finding the stable for...the star went ahead of us until it stopped over the place where the child was.
My knees buckled, and I fell to the earth. I shuffled forward on my knees to the stable door, knocked, and someone opened door. Still kneeling, I approached the child who was wrapped in cloths, lying in the manger. He seemed asleep, but when I laid down my offering of frankincense, his eyes opened.
Those eyes! I could not tell if they were blue or midnight black they seemed so deep and wise. He waved a fist at us, and Balthazar fell to his knees also, spilling a casket of gold on the earthen floor, A woman in a worn blue cloak nearby gasped. It had to be the mother. Then the child smiled as Caspar placed his gift of myrrh by the manger.
Did I say it was a sad smile? How could that be in a babe so new? But I thought so at the time. We did not stay; it did not seem right though we had come such a long way. The mother, Mary, gave us fresh bread and goat's cheese for the journey, and we warned her of King Herod who smelled of hate and intended to harm her child.
I said, "We will go home by another way to avoid Herod, for my dream warned me of him." I did not say that my dream was covered
in blood and loss.
Caspar and Balthazar briefly touched the cheek of the babe, then brought their fingers to their foreheads, bowing as we backed out of the door. Somehow I found myself atop my camel again, my friends beside me, and I turned towards the east to avoid Jerusalem. Looking back, I saw the star above the stable, its light making a path our animals walked on, home by another way.
It was a long journey, one I knew I would never take again, for I am an old man now without the long and flexible legs needed to ride a camel for weeks and weeks.
Did I say it was a long journey? Did I say we traveled through sandstorms, dust, ice on the ground, and over rocky hills without any green? Did I tell you that we talked little among us--Caspar, Balthazar, and I, Melchior, intent only on our destination?
We had agreed to travel together because of our wonder at the star blazing in the sky. It called to us. Caspar believed we were being asked to journey far. Balthazar was clear we needed to bring gifts, as he said the star foretold the birth of a great king. I was clear about nothing, except that we must have good mounted camels to carry us the distance.
We ate hard bread, dried digs, and drank water from our wineskins. We slept wrapped in our cloaks, huddled beneath a small tent staked out. Our water was almost gone when we reached Jerusalem, and as a mark of respect, requested an audience with King Herod, who we had heard was a hard and stony man.
Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw his star in the East and have come to worship him, I said, in a voice hoarse from thirst.
The King, who should have given us food and wine, strode off in a rage, calling to his men to gather the chief priests and teachers of the law...he asked them where the Christ was to be born. In Bethlehem in Judea, they answered.
I saw his face when he received this news. It crumpled in upon itself as if nothing could ever escape the tough wrinkles, and a smell emanated from him which I have scented in battle--the metallic smell of hatred.
The King spoke to us again, asking about the time the star appeared; he requested that we go to Bethlehem, find the child, and bring news to him so he could worship him too. But I knew those words were false.
We mounted our weary camels and began the journey to Bethlehem, which was not far. We had no trouble finding the stable for...the star went ahead of us until it stopped over the place where the child was.
My knees buckled, and I fell to the earth. I shuffled forward on my knees to the stable door, knocked, and someone opened door. Still kneeling, I approached the child who was wrapped in cloths, lying in the manger. He seemed asleep, but when I laid down my offering of frankincense, his eyes opened.
Those eyes! I could not tell if they were blue or midnight black they seemed so deep and wise. He waved a fist at us, and Balthazar fell to his knees also, spilling a casket of gold on the earthen floor, A woman in a worn blue cloak nearby gasped. It had to be the mother. Then the child smiled as Caspar placed his gift of myrrh by the manger.
Did I say it was a sad smile? How could that be in a babe so new? But I thought so at the time. We did not stay; it did not seem right though we had come such a long way. The mother, Mary, gave us fresh bread and goat's cheese for the journey, and we warned her of King Herod who smelled of hate and intended to harm her child.
I said, "We will go home by another way to avoid Herod, for my dream warned me of him." I did not say that my dream was covered
Caspar and Balthazar briefly touched the cheek of the babe, then brought their fingers to their foreheads, bowing as we backed out of the door. Somehow I found myself atop my camel again, my friends beside me, and I turned towards the east to avoid Jerusalem. Looking back, I saw the star above the stable, its light making a path our animals walked on, home by another way.
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