Melchior

That’s not my real name. I was given this in the 4th C by some story writers. They spoke of a band of 3 Kings or Wise Men. Really, wise men? Melchior was supposed to come from Persia, Gaspar (also called “Caspar” or “Jaspar”) from India, and Balthazar from Arabia. My life was far less glamorous than that. I am an astrologer, one who studies the movement of the planets and stars. I navigate the history of our people through observing the paths of these celestial beauties.

So when most people are safely tucked up for the night, I am to be found caught staring up into the night sky, searching, exploring, discerning. During the warm summer nights I’ll lay up here on the flat roof and watch the patterns, what we call constellations, swirl across the sky. Many aren’t happy at night, I am in my comfort zone here.

Looking up

Most people like to watch where they are walking, looking down at all times, not even in the big cities to even look at another face. They miss so much of our world. No, I was happy to advise others of what was happening and what was possibly around the corner: but really wise men?

Then this new star emerged, it was quite a thing. Bright and intriguing, seemingly heading west. From where it had arisen I knew this was to be something special. So I gathered my things and set out to follow that star.

Soon as I wandered the country roads there were a number of us, each focussed upon that celestial revelation. We were each from different parts of the area so we shared stories, looked into our own histories and marvelled at this star. It wasn’t easy, for these roads weren’t protected and we weren’t locals any more. And of course at night, with clear skies, it can get very cold. Many weeks passed.

As we approached a large city we made our big mistake. We took our gaze off the star and looked down.

Cottrell, Stephen., Walking Backwards to Christmas, p 34.

Looking Down

We were not really wise men at this stage. We started to use our own wisdom, and given that we were in another country now we asked for speak to someone prominent. Herod was his name. We were soon to have an audience but we quickly saw through this man. He couldn’t see further than the end of his arms, he was so self-opinionated, that all he wanted was good publicity and no enemies. We stayed just one night in his presence and then moved on, making sure that we were not to encounter him again.

Destination Found

We then just followed the star, we didn’t seek to enquire with any more locals. And there, the star seemed to cease its movement and we could see this central area in Bethlehem highlighted. We moved closer, we weren’t ambassadors or people who spoke eloquently, we were astrologers, star gazers. There, in the stone crib was a gurgling child with an adorning Mum & Dad gazing at the child in awe. He asked us who we were. We responded that we had followed the star, high above us, as it suggested a birth of a king – we squirmed a bit as that sounded a bit foolish at the time. He ushered us closer. We sat and spoke with the parents, and then rested back on our sleeping animals – to keep warm – and marvel at the scene before us.

Departures

In the morning a few of us came forward to Joseph and Mary, that’s their names, and gave them gifts that we had tucked safely into our bags weeks beforehand. Some trinkets of gold, fit for a king; some sweet smelling Mesopotamian incense, as the King was also someone to intercede with God, like a priest; and a vial of ointment of myrrh, as birth and death are book ends of our life. Really, wise men? No, ones who went with our heart and gave what we had. We also explained what Herod had said to us. So we all needed to travel now in a different direction.

We bid our farewells after that and set off for home. The whole direction of our lives and theirs had changed.