The Wise Men
The Magi travelled to Palestine
on camels and a government
grant from the Parthian Empire.
Cheated in the camel market,
loaded high with scientific gear
and a few gifts from the royal store;
they let theory guide observation.
Herod got his Brains Trust on
the job, and provided some
peer review; and off went the three
nerds, to follow the Star to Bethlehem.
And “when they saw the star,
they rejoiced with exceeding
great joy”; because their calculations
were correct, and their funding
justified, and their report to
the Imperial Chief Scientist
would write itself.
God sent an angel like a Divine
email to warn them not to return
to Herod to share their exciting
ground-truthed data, because
they needed to be told the obvious.
Julian O’Dea