Howard Skempton: It was a star


Howard Skempton (b. 1947)

It was a star that prompted them to travel to Jerusalem, to find a King; the King of the Jews. To Herod this came as disturbing news. He asked his priests where the Saviour lay. “In Bethlehem” was all they could say. And this he told (with fiendish care) the three wise men, and sent them there. They trusted in their wisdom quite and followed hard the heavenly light, and found a babe so sweet and small that even they were held in thrall; and being men of wealth immense, brought gold and myrrh and frankincense. They whispered soft a fond shalom, and quietly they journeyed home.