A cold coming we had of it, just the worst time of year for a journey, and such a long journey. (T.S. Eliot, The Journey of the Magi)
The story of the Three Wise Men is such an integral piece of the Christmas tradition, and has always been one of my favorite parts of the “story.” I love to sit in a darkened church at a children’s Christmas pageant, and watch the little ones in long bathrobes and cardboard crowns stumble up to the baby Jesus with their gifts. The Biblical accounts of this part of the Christmas story are sketchy for sure, so a lot is left to the imagination.
T.S. Eliot’s forty-nine line poem, The Journey of the Magi, is his fantasized account of what the journey of the wise men of the traditional Christmas story might have been like. The poem is a dramatic monologue spoken by one of the three wise men. The account tells us that these kings/magicians/astrologers saw a star in the sky which they noticed began to move, and they decided to follow it, because they guessed it meant that something important might be about to happen.
It was a long journey, and in Eliot’s version, both the weather and the route were hazardous. From the very beginning, they encountered various difficulties, traveling through barbarian and dangerous desert and mountainous territory. The hazards hidden along the way seem to speak to the spiritual nature of the journey, and we get the sense that spiritual journeys are meant to be tough.
Even the camels began to complain (sore feet and so forth), and the camel drivers grumbled and griped, wanting booze and prostitutes. The people they encountered on the journey were inhospitable, hostile sorts, and for safety, they took to traveling at night, getting little sleep. When the wise men did manage to sleep, they were troubled by nightmares and “voices” warning them that this venture would come to no good end. And indeed, for the wise men in Eliot’s account, the “end” of the journey raised more questions than it answered.
We are left knowing that the journey of the wise men is our journey. We all have a spiritual journey to take, mountains to scale, deserts to cross . . . Probably nothing will be more important in your life than your own.