Steps of the Magi, part 1
by Skip Schiel
When they had heard the king, they departed; and the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
And when they came into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him; and when they had opened their treasures they presented him with gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
--Matthew II: 9-11
In the Holy Land over the Christmas period, I sensed much gaiety and reverence, not always where expected: from Jericho our Steps of the Magi pilgrimage, organized by the Holy Land Trust as an alternative tour, walked thru the Judean desert wilderness to Bethlehem--and I do mean desert and I do mean wilderness. It was dry dry dry, treeless, grassless, shrubless, except on rare occasions. On the first day we were led by a camel and a donkey; their driver, Mohamed, a Bedouin; and Ramzey, an experienced guide. We piled the poor camel higher and higher with our gear as we trudged along, up and down clay hills, tiring rapidly, any burden we had to carry growing heavier by the second. Camel didn't seem to mind, even when ridden.
Second day, no camel, just the donkey, but we'd learned what to send ahead in a vehicle. The vehicle, of course, did not accompany us because we were entirely off road. Alternative touring of the Holy Land--not an experience many would ever have or want. Except for a few eccentrics like us who take seriously the admonition to "walk in my footsteps." Indeed, we were at the base of the Mount of Temptation in Jericho (didn't climb it for some reason), an alleged burial site of Moses, the cave of Elijah, and other sites of notable historical importance, some fictional, some fact. But who's to know?
Who were the Magi?—