Returning to Our Places
Journey of the Magi
We returned to our palaces, no longer satisfied with earthly pleasures, but no longer at ease here, in the old dispensations with alien people clutching their gods.
The Magi return to their homes (Matthew 2) without reporting the Birth to King Herod. Their brief part in the story is over. But they are changed forever, no longer satisfied with “the old dispensation” and are disturbed by “alien people clutching their gods.” Before the journey began, they were part of the alien people and part of that culture, but they have now seen the true God. False idols could not compete.
Here Scripture ends the brief appearance of the Magi, but tradition and Church history add a few more lines. All three, it is said, became such staunch Christians that they willingly suffered martyrdom. The Shrine of the Three Kings in Cologne is said to contain their bones.
Eliot’s poem did not mention the gifts of gold, Frankincense, and myrrh depicted in Mathew 2:21. We can see these items as analogies to the Christ. Gold represents power and wealth; Frankincense is a type of incense and perfume such as Mary poured on the feet of Jesus in John 12:3. Myrrh is used in the embalming process and was offered to Jesus in Mark 15:23 as a painkiller at His crucifixion.
Medieval art helped to solidify the place of the Magi in the Christmas story. They are often shown as a multiracial set of three, reflecting the increase in trade between Europe and Africa. The song, “We Three Kings of Orient Are”, written in 1857 by Episcopalian clergyman John Henry Hopkins, firmly fixed the Magi into American tradition.
One cannot become a spousal caregiver, then a widow, and return to life as it was. I needed to find a new life for myself and my son, but my status as a “widow” was hard for a few friends to accept. I no longer fit into their mold.
REFLECTION:
I lost several friends in the early days of widowhood. “I don’t know what to say to you,” was their excuse as they turned away. So they said nothing. Thankfully, a new group of friends—several widows—quickly embraced my son and me. What old relationships needed to end after your journey? What new ones began?