ONE MORE
, Mel Gibson's recent monumental and rather sensational merchandising of his R-rated movie “The Passions of Christ” set the ball a-rollin' and people are avidly searching for religious books to read or re-read. May I suggest one.. I re-read it a year or two ago after about fifty years or more..You will find it at your local library
Look for a small book:.HenryVan Dyke's "The Story of the Other Wise Man". Yes ,it is about Christmas time and Wise Men and who can deny that we have need of such learned men here in the Spring of 2004 during the days of worldwide terror.
The "other" wise man was named Artaban, in case you, too, have forgotten and his faithful horse for the initial phase of his long journey was named Vasda. (What a fine "Jeopardy" category that would make. A rider and his and his steed, either with other such steeds and riders or alone as the super-duper "Final Jeopardy" question. "Artaban and Vasda." Identify. The question, of course, would be : "Who was the Other Wise Man and what was the name of his Arabian horse?” Reversed, of course, in good “Jeopardy” fashion.)
Oddly enough, I find the “camel” Artaban used for the major portion portion of his journey has not named in the book.
The edition had was published in 1906, in New York, by Harper and Brothers. The original copyright date shows as 1895. The book is a serious examination of the Eastern faith called Zoroaster ism and is set in ancient Babylon, in part where the Three Wise Man - members of the Magi group - are watching for the special star to shine. They were called Castor, Melchior and Balthazar and and they had reasoned according to the Second scroll of a Hebrew book called "Daniel" that a Messiah was to be born who "would restore Jerusalem be the special appointed One, the Prince" and they had studied the event and the timing of it in detail threw Babylonian numerology practices and with the help of a local religious scholar named Abgarus. Artaban is to watch for the special star in the sky and they will wait ten days for him to join them from his home a hundred miles to the East.
The Oriental religious background may hamper the present-day reader because we are no longer conversant with such ecumenical thought - in spite of our pretended Oneness. The story will seem "used" too because so many writers have used the "plot" in the meantime. In his quest to take fine gifts to the new born Babe, he meets with persons in dire need and shares the gifts with them until he has nothing left to present to the Christ child. In his old age, we see him as one who has, after all, met the Christ in a very personal way through service to others even though he never actually found the Babe in the Manger or came to know Jesus in reality.
Before Christmas rolls around, make it a special point to re-read "The Story of the Other Wise Man " by Henry Van Dyke. You'll be glad you renewed literary ties with Truths from long ago.whch are useful today as swellheaded old world. hasn't changed as much as we like to think it by this time..
A.L.M. March 29, 2004 [c505wds]
