{"id":5259,"date":"2012-12-13T13:10:50","date_gmt":"2012-12-13T21:10:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/?p=5259"},"modified":"2012-12-13T21:45:17","modified_gmt":"2012-12-14T05:45:17","slug":"tis-the-season-for-the-wisemen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/2012\/12\/13\/tis-the-season-for-the-wisemen\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Tis the Season . . . for the Wisemen"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/h6>\n

Anne thinks it was in\u00a0Guatemala\u00a0City that we\u00a0bought\u00a0that creche. No matter, it’s traveled many miles since. Sort of like the wisemen, also part of the scene.<\/p>\n

Some would speculate that they probably weren’t there that first night with the shepherds. Nor did it matter to the parents, better to spread the holiday company out a little, if possible. And Herod’s response of dealing with babies two years and under leaves us with a wider window for their visit.<\/p>\n

They’d come a very long way, likely Persia (now Iran) and had been on the “road” about six months.<\/p>\n

Think about it. If you wanted to drop in on someone to give a few gifts on Christmas day, you would have been traveling since June. And that’s not sitting in the back seat watching videos . . . it was hard slogging,
\nprovision planning,
\nfortune expending,
\ncamel rocking,
\nmountain ascending,
\ndesert\u00a0trekking,
\nrobber avoiding,
\nheat enduring,
\ncold abating,
\nground sleeping,
\nsickness\u00a0retching,
\nthirst quenching,
\njoints jerking,
\nwife-missing,
\nshoes mending,
\nmeal rationing,
\nmoods swinging,
\nstaff managing,
\nanimals tending,
\nroute re-checking,
\npit-stop making,
\ndays-long resting,
\nand very slow going.<\/p>\n

One could wonder how many times they wondered what they were doing all this for. How many times did they consider turning back?<\/p>\n

But there was this star. Something so unusual it still baffles. A comet?<\/p>\n

They were star-gazers, followers of astronomy’s precursor. That, and whatever else they had . . . some think access to ancient Hebrew prophesy that\u00a0foretold a\u00a0portentious\u00a0birth with world-wide ramifications. We don’t know and the\u00a0generally\u00a0detail-minded Matthew remarked only briefly on this one.<\/p>\n

They came to the capital and did their protocol, international guests as they were, and inquired what was known of the birth.<\/p>\n

“Ah, birth, yes, a future king, yes, well, ah, we’ll need to get back to you on that” . . . then, whisper whisper . . . “Ah,\u00a0Bethlehem, yes\u00a0Bethlehem, that’s what the scrolls say, a little town up the road. Can’t miss it. And let me know what you find so I can come do my worship bit too.”<\/p>\n

Seems odd that no one accompanied the\u00a0entourage\u00a0for that last short walk down to Bethlehem, even for\u00a0curiosity. But as Jesus would later say, “It’s in his own country that a prophet is not known.”<\/p>\n

He also said, “The seeker finds,” and find they did. They gave their gifts,\u00a0opulent and symbolic, and, as the parents must have thought, useless.<\/em><\/p>\n

That is unless cash was needed for an escape to Egypt with soldiers\u00a0behind.<\/p>\n

Then the\u00a0magi, with fitful sleep, re-routed course and camel-slogged the whole six months back again. Did they wonder on the way, “What was that about?”<\/p>\n

It was just a baby. To very young parents, penniless and bewildered, with nothing to guide them but grit and dreams. It was all, you would say, underwhelming<\/em>.<\/p>\n

If we’d known all this before we started, would we have gone? Would we do it all again?<\/p>\n

But then, where else would we go?<\/p>\n

We’ve seen just enough to kindle a faith. And with a faith, an action. Though the trek be long, costly, and sometimes accompanied with doubt, where else would we go after what we’ve seen?<\/p>\n

Where else would be go after what we’ve seen?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

_____________<\/p>\n

Back in Dana Point.
\nNext: ‘Tis the Season . . . for the Powers\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The wisemen, the seeking intellects of the time, all part of the Christmas scene . . . do they provide a model for us . . . or scorn us in our casual quest?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5259"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5259"}],"version-history":[{"count":42,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5338,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5259\/revisions\/5338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}