The wise men are in us....

It's strange, somehow, that it’s only now, now when I’m 75 years old, that I’ve noticed that the three wise men are in Matthew and the shepherds are in Luke and they’re not really in the same story….

It’s because they've always been together in my mind.

It makes sense to guess, I suppose, that Matthew was a learned person and so wasn't that interested in shepherds but was interested in wise men, learned men, seekers after wisdom, laying all that knowledge aside to pay tribute to a tiny child.

But then this isn’t really about mythical kings giving presents to a mythical baby in a mythical country thousands of years ago.

It’s about us, somehow.

When I perform the scene in The Gospel According To Jesus, Queen Of Heaven, I say:

“Remember the shepherds?

The ones who were tending their flocks by night,

And then the angel came. And said:

“Fear not. I bring you tidings of great joy.

You shall find the babe lying in a manger.”

(And then I turn to the audience and say:)

“And that was you. And you. And you.

And me too. All of us. In our swaddling clothes.

Dear little things that we were.

And still are.

And don’t you go telling me

There weren't any shepherds. Or that there weren't any flocks.

Because they all went years ago when they built the city by-pass.

Or that it wasn’t a manger. But a plastic box in a run-down maternity ward.

Or there were no wise men,

Maybe just your dad, and him a bit pissed maybe, being so nervous.

Think poetically.

And the shepherds were there at your birth

And there was rejoicing and great gladness

And the wise queens did come with the most beautiful gifts.

And the angels just so delightfully framing the sky.

And all to announce the birth of a baby.”

And the baby was and is us. But we forget.

And we go searching for meaning in our lives, trying to understand what we're doing here,

Looking all over the world in the darkness

When the answer is inside us all along.

And if we are to find the answers to all these questions, we must pay attention to the youngest and the smallest part of our dear selves.

The part of us that is still innocent.

The part of us that knows absolutely how to live in the present.

The part of us that knows how to trust.

The part of us that knows how to love.

That part of us has become deeply hidden in the course of our lives and we need to go for a very long and maybe dangerous journey inside ourselves to find her again.

But she is always there.

And she is always loved.

And she always knows exactly what she is doing…