Following the Star

“We began heading westward at once, almost before the full prophecy was revealed to us. A great king had been born, possibly to become the savior of all mankind, and we must visit him. Not only was this revealed to us by an angel from God, it had been recorded by the ancient Canaanites in a prophecy that must be fulfilled.

“Luckily, the angel had caught the three of us, Melchior the Persian, Balthazar the Arabian and I, Caspar, together at the Third Annual Mediterranean Aristotelian Scholar-King Convention, held this time in the Parthian city of Susa. We had spent the day listening to Melchior give a lecture about the necessity of a literal interpretation of Zoroastrian texts, during which I groaned as much as Balthazar cheered and were finishing our catered supper when a little winged creature appeared in front of us and commanded us to travel to the West, to Bethlehem and show our respects to a great new king. ‘Remember to bring gifts,’ he said.

“We didn’t have much time to pack, so Melchior and Balthazar picked up some cheap incense and anointing oil from the convention center’s gift shop. I figured that the few gold pieces I had in my coin purse would have to make due.

“We quickly rushed off into the night, and easily found the bright star in the sky that the angel had told us about. Meanwhile, Balthazar had discovered among his library collection the very prophecy that foretold our journey. He pored over every detail, committed it to memory and spent most of the trip reciting it under his breath.

“We would only break from our travel during the hottest hours of the day. Balthazar reminded everyone that the prophecy specifically stipulated that we never travel while the sun is at its highest point in the sky. I reminded him that stopping at midday was the only logical thing to do, regardless of the prophecy. It was simply too hot to travel around noon, not to mention that the star we were to was completely outshone by the sun during this time of the day. He would just sneer at me. Then he would turn to Melchior, and they would both sneer at me.

“So the journey went, moving only at night. And it went quite well for quite a while. Of course there were a few obstacles here and there. While I refused to leave the marked road, Melchior and Balthazar refused to take any path that did not point directly at the star, as ‘that was what the prophecy dictated’. Luckily the roadway was fairly straight, and the three of us never strayed too far apart.

“Then, obviously, we hit a roadblock, but not literally. The star had brought us to a point where the road sharply turned to the left. Ahead of us was a deep gorge. To our left, not three hundred meters from the point we were standing, I could see a bridge, and the continuation of the road on the other side of the ravine.

“When we hit this curve, I chose to follow the roadway, but my two companions stopped. Then they shouted for me to stop. I did, though I should have kept going.

“Balthazar spoke first. ‘We must continue to follow the path of the star.’

“Melchior piped up. ‘Yes, we must not disobey the instructions of the God’s messengers, the angel and the ancient prophets.’

“I couldn’t believe what they were saying, but I couldn’t convince them to change their minds. No argument, no amount of logic or reason could convince them otherwise. Pointing out that the ravine was completely impassable and crossing it meant death was answered with assurances of faith. ‘We must only follow the orders of the prophecy, of God’s messenger.’

“‘But why?’ I questioned them. ‘Why trust the words of people, just as fallible as you or I, when they cannot and could not see the things you and I see today, in this very instant? They wrote in a different time, a different place, with a different understanding of the world. Why rob ourselves of our minds and limit our reality to their constraints, especially when doing so means certain death? Surely they could not have known we would encounter such an obstacle! Surely they could not have intended for us to walk off a cliff, just to follow their orders! And if they did, then why are they worth following.’

“After a long silence, Melchior’s words broke through. He began shouting about temptation, that I was the servant of the devil, that I was the purest, and most contemptuous of heretics. He could not see that I only intended to save him from his blindness. And I had no response to his accusations.

“I could only watch as my two companions urged their mules forward, off of the road and over the sand before the cliff. The two animals stopped a few feet before the abyss. Even they were smart enough to understand the stupidity of their masters. I saw the silhouettes of Melchior and Balthazar dismount. I heard Melchior shout ‘Beasts of Satan!’ before he and Balthazar began walking further out onto the cliff’s edge.

“Then they disappeared.

“I sat on my mule for a while and just stared at the star for a few minutes. Then I gathered my companion’s belongings and led their and my mules to this establishment. I request two new members to join my party. Yes, I would like the companionship, and I definitely need two more men to help me captain these mules across the desert or to defend the baggage train from thieves. But more importantly, the prophecy clearly says that exactly three wise men must be present to give gifts to the newborn king.”