We had an informal Worship Together service for Epiphany including the following sketch about the wise men's journey:
We’re going to eves-drop on their journey, as told by David, Josh and Zach
Three figures in cloaks (one with bike, one with scooter)
Magi 1 (the littlest): Are we nearly there yet?
Magi 2: I have no idea. We are going to be SO late – it’s embarrassing. We should have just booked those Easy Jet tickets like I said.
Magi 3: Maybe we would have been on time, but I just couldn’t face kneeling before the King of all Creation knowing he knew I’d just sent a couple of tonnes of CO2 into his upper atmosphere. I don’t think he’d appreciate me helping flood Bangladesh just to get to see him a bit quicker.
Magi 1: Well I reckon motorbikes would have been much more sensible – we’d still have been on time and little boys love motorbikes.
Magi 2: I’m not sure this one’s quite like other little boys. Anyway, you’d have had to leave me behind – I get so travel sick. (make retching noise)
Magi 3: I still think that guy in the bazaar with the magic carpets was worth listening to.
1 and 2 look at 3 in disbelief.
Magi 2: Well this isn’t getting us any closer is it? Come on, let’s keep going.
Magi leave.
We subsequently approached our confession in the light of the wise men's mistake in discussing their journey with Herod:
The wise men had assumed that they should look for a king in the big city of Jerusalem. They had expected to find wisdom in the king’s palace. They were simply acting according to the logic of the world they lived in. But their detour to Jerusalem meant that Bethlehem’s baby boys were killed.
Living our lives according to what appears to make sense in this world can similarly lead to tragedy. The impending catastrophe for our climate is an obvious example, the apparent logic of free trade which nonetheless keeps the poorest poor is another.
Towards the end of the service we discussed what we need to pack for our own spiritual journeys. In considering both aids to prayer and things that bring us closer to God more generally, it was decided that opportunities to be outside in the natural world were valued by many of us (a pair of walking shoes was duly included in the suitcase).
