EPIPHANY

 

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THE MAGI

It might have been just someone else's story;
Some chosen people get a special king,
We leave them to their own peculiar glory, 
We don't belong, it doesn't mean a thing.
But when these three arrive they bring us with them,
Gentiles like us, their wisdom might be ours; 
A steady step that finds an inner rhythm,
A pilgrim's eye that sees beyond the stars.
They did not know his name but still they sought him
They came from otherwhere but still they found;
In palaces they found those who sold and bought him,
But in the filthy stable, hallowed ground.
Their courage gives our questing hearts a voice
To seek, to find, to worship, to rejoice

                        Malcolm Guite, Anglican priest, poet

ART:Christmas in the Air Raid Shelter.  With Russia still deploying cruise missiles and suicide drones against Ukraine, Olya Kravchenko constructed a three-dimensional painting that shows the Holy Family huddled in the basement of an apartment complex, hiding out from air raids. A large, bright star hovers overhead, showing the three magi to the spot where Jesus lies. (2024)