A long ago threesome
Things often come in threes...
I was part of a threesome, a long time ago...
Some in our astrology circle
Had seen a new star in the sky
And we wondered what it meant.
Those who did research told us that it signified the birth of a king..
Most were happy to stay at home and track the progress of the star
With the comfort of their beds and their wives.
But three of us felt compelled to follow its leading.
It was a sort of a pilgrimage...
I guess we were trying to find ourselves just as much as a king...
The journey was long and hard,
Yet we didn’t get weary –
Faith and hope and the star kept us going.
The star took us to the country of Palestine
And that’s when we made our big mistake.
We assumed a king would be born in Jerusalem
And we knocked on the door of Herod, the King.
We asked if he knew where a new king was born?
Herod flew into a rage,
so we took that as a ‘no’ and tried to take our leave.
But Herod insisted on getting the best Jewish scholars
And the wisest of rabbis
And we were eventually told that the king would be born in Bethlehem –
A small town 5 miles south-west of Jerusalem.
The Jewish King David was born there
And one of his descendants was promised to be another great king...
We left with Herod’s demand that we should return ringing in our ears,
But we put him out of our minds as we picked up the star
And re-focused on our pilgrimage.
When we found the baby and his parents,
We knew why we had travelled so far and for so long.
We felt sorry for those who had not made the journey.
There was a peace and a joy in that house
That I still cannot explain.
We gave our gifts of expensive perfume and jewellery;
We shared our story and we listened to theirs.
Before we left, a strange thing happened:
All three of us had a dream in which we were told
Not to go back to Jerusalem.
This was music to our ears and we began the long journey home
Using another route that bypassed Jerusalem.
I’ll always remember the baby in whom we experienced the very presence of God.
I’ll always remember the child who seemed full of the power of the Holy Spirit.
And I’ll always remember the boy who was going to become a man King.
But things often come in threes...
Jacqui A Horton 2009