When Kings came a calling...

Well I hope you've taken all your decorations down and packed them away. Yesterday was twelfth night or the feast of Epiphany when the church celebrates the visit of the Wise Men, or Magi to Bethlehem. Poor Mary - more houseguests - but at least this bunch brought snazzy presents.

If you sing the Carol "We three Kings" then you'll even be given suggested names for the visitors. Historically though we are not told how many men there were, just how many gifts which is where the 3 comes in.

According to a seminar I once went on they probably arrived on horseback along with a huge entourage of servants (Wise men wouldn't risk meeting Bandits) and they camped along the journey which may have taken up to 2 years. By the time they arrived Jesus was being referred to as a child and they lived in a house so hopefully Jospeh had picked up some joinery jobs and they'd managed a low budget wedding by then!

Hopefully they weren't too settled though, because the visit of the Magi looking for a new King/Ruler upset King Herod so much that he instigated an act of genocide and demanded that all baby boys up to the age of 2 be slaughtered. Can you imagine that happening in your area?

Mary & Joseph managed to escape and so this little family became refugees/asylum seekers but aided financially by the generous gifts of the Oriental Travellers, who had brought Gold, Frankincense and Myhrr (enbalming fluid). Strange gifts to bring to a child but selected because, as the carol points out, Jesus was King and God and sacrifice.

The forecasters say bleak things for 2009 with reference to jobs, housing etc but we probably won't be confronted with tough issues like Mary & Joseph had to face. So maybe the Epiphany story can be an inspiration to us.

Epiphany means Revelation. May God reveal wonderful things to you and yours this year. And may all your visitors be made to feel like Kings.
j x