The Magi

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Based on Matthew 2:1-12, a meditation on the Magi in the form of a poem.  Legend has it that there were 3 Magi, we traditionally think of them as Kings and Cologne Cathedral has a reliquary that purports to contain bones of them.  We even have given them 3 names, Balthazar, Melchior and Gaspar but biblically we know very little.  They are only mentioned in Matthew’s Gospel and all we know is that were Magi, we are not given their names or how many there were.  We see them as Gentile Kings paying Homage to Jesus and gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh have been given meanings that may not have been an initial intent.  We have also forgotten how the visit itself seems to have led directly to a massacre. 


We are the misrepresented
Our message warped
In nativities; We are Kings, celebrities, spacemen,
Robots, figures of fun

We gave notice of revolution
Of an ancient prophecy coming to term
Of the birth of new beginnings
The birth of Immanuel

We followed a light
Announced a new king
And in our wake
Outpourings of bloodlust, destruction and wailing

We were the scientists of our day
Our heads in the clouds, politically naïve
We come to grieve for the innocents
And seek forgiveness from the King

We are not 3 or Kings, or spacemen
We are just like you
Trying to understand our place in the cosmos
We are the magi, following the light.


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