“The blessing of God; Eternal Majesty, Incarnate Word an Abiding Spirit be upon you, remain with you, and remind you that you are God’s beloved child every single day of your life.”

This is the blessing I usually give to young people who cross their arms at the time of Communion seeking a blessing.  The words, you might recognize, come from the Gospel story of Jesus’ baptism.

These three characters of the Wise Men, or Magi, or three Kings hold a great deal of mystery and intrigue in our Christmas story.  Though only spoken of in Matthew’s Gospel, no nativity set or Christmas Pageant seems complete without them.

And yet we don’t really know much about them.  And much of what we think we know about them is actually speculation or church lore.