Reflecting on the Magi, the Wise Ones, on Epiphany, I came to realize that perhaps they weren’t much smarter than the rest of us. Herod knew Jesus was trouble so he couldn’t see anything other than what he already thought. The Magi, however, when confronted with a power greater than they imagined, were open to learning some new way God was working in the world. This is what makes wisdom, when you are aware enough of your ignorance of the workings of God to be able to see God at work in a new way, even when God works in mysterious ways, God’s wonders to perform.
For a deeper study on the way of the Magi, check out the following books and the specific chapters:
The Psychology of Jesus, Chapter 8: Herod: People and Events Don’t Bother Us, But Our Perceptions of Them Do
and Out of The Crowd, Chapter 15; “The Anxious Crowd”
