On entering the house,
they saw the child with Mary his mother;
and they knelt down and paid him homage.
—Matthew 2.11
Grown men, powerful figures,
people with authority. Kings, even.
Bowed down. On their knees.
(King James says they fell down.
Says they worshiped him.)
Prostrate. Face to the dust.
Men of power, on the floor
for a peasant child, a toddler.
Stay there a moment.
Before the hymns,
the impressive gifts,
the pious symbolism,
stay in this silent moment of worship.
Let the authority in you
kneel down before the ordinary,
the poor and plain.
Let the wisdom in you
attend to the small,
bow before the simple.
Let the power in you
fall down—fall down—
in humble honor
of the fragile and tender,
the vulnerable, the meek.
In the little ones, not in the mighty,
is the glory of God.
Kneel, wise one,
and worship.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net