The story of Magi or the three wise men or the
three kings from the East is pretty known, especially by Christians. The three
wise men saw the unusual star and they tried to find out what the phenomenon is
all about. They searched it and then
decided to follow the star. Finally the star stopped in Bethlehem and they found
the King.
For me this story tells us something about
human hope and human search for the truth: the truth about oneself, about nature,
about others, and about God. However, it needs one’s openness to see, to search
and to find out the essence or the core behind all the perceived existence. Behind
all that is there is a first cause; behind all sensed matters there are
spiritual things; behind all that is human there is divine being; and behind
human message there is spiritual message.
Therefore, the message of the story leads us to
the deepest desire of our human quest. The three wise men were the model of our
quest for the truth in our life. Life is not stagnant in our locality, our
village, or our circumstance. Life should be a dynamic or a process of becoming
to actualize our potentiality. Therefore
I see in the story 6 continuous process of finding the truth.
1. Seeing the star: they were not only seeing the
star and stopped with it but they were searching and investigating it. They
tried to discover the real meaning of the start: why it was there? Was it there
for a purpose? This star only can be seen in the night time of their life.
2. Following the star: leaving the comfort zone
of one’s life is not easy but the three wise men went to follow the star. They left
their comfort zone of their day-to-day life and encountered uncertainty of the unknown.
3. Encountering distraction: they stopped in
Jerusalem and being summoned by Herod the King who planned to kill the child. Herod
questioned their intention and their purpose; however, they still stuck with
their commitment and pursued their way to find the child, Jesus.
5. Finding the place where the Child was: when
they found the place, they entered and saw the child and the mother. They were
so full of owe and wonder; “they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy” that they
stayed there with the child for a while, worshiped and gave the child their
gifts. What a great gesture and expression that had for the child. Feeling fulfilled
or maybe finding the truth is the simple word I can describe of the experience of
the wise men. They gave and offered what they had to the child because they had
found the answer of their quest.
6. Returning home with new way: the story tells
us that the three wise men returned to their place using other way. It brings
up a light that because of seeing and encountering the truth of their quest,
they came back with a new hope; their spirit was renewed; their life was
revived. They become new persons; they had a new paradigm of seeing the reality
of life.
The process of journeying of the three wise men
to find the truth within their context was our process too. It is the process
of our journey to search for something good, something precious and truthful in
our life. It is about searching to find one’s deepest longing and desire. It might
be the actualisation of our being self or in religious term it will be God, the
source and summit of all our human desires.
Therefore, I see that we can lean and use this
process to find our answer for all our quests of life. Have a hope always.
