These ‘wise’ travellers may well have been considered foolish to follow a star and a prophecy in hope. They were prepared to stake reputation; to leave family; to risk the dangers of travel; to risk the hospitality of strangers. To follow more than a star and for more than two weeks – they arrive at the house, not at the stable and Mary has a child, not a baby. The Magi knelt at the feet of a child, a toddler. 

The passage, in Matthew’s gospel, has fired the imagination of artists, writers, poets as well as people of faith for two thousand years.  The blessing of the Magi has also become a blessing of the home in many countries, and we celebrated that in school last week. 

During our Inset Day we read a poem by Howard Thurman. We are encouraged to take all that is good about the Christmas season into the new year.

When the song of the angels is stilled,

When the star in the sky is gone,

When the kings and princes are home,

When the shepherds are back with their flock,

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,

To heal the broken,

To feed the hungry,

To release the prisoner,

To rebuild the nations,

To bring peace among others,

To make music in the heart.

Howard Thurman