1 Three Friends
Hathach,
Melzar, & Beorn, traveled west across a desert riding camels. They followed
a big, moving star. It was Hathach, 60—we’ll call him Hath--who first came up
with the idea of the trip. He and Melzar—we’ll call him Mel--his favorite
servant who he loved like a grandson, looked at stars every night, and they had
seen the moving one then. But the strange, black prince Beorn said he wanted to
come too!
You never
know who you’ll end up trusting your life with. Be good to whoever you’re with
right now!
2 Home is
where...they’re glad you’re there
What Hath
and Mel didn’t know was that Beorn grew up in the desert. When he came, he
wasn’t wearing royal robes but nomadic clothes, bringing veils for Hath and Mel
for the sandstorms he knew they’d face. Later, by giving help for flash floods,
finding water holes, preparing food (like giant lizard), making camp, it seemed
Beorn was more alive in the wilderness than in the castle.
No wonder he
wanted to come.
3 Things turned
upside down
How did
Beorn, 40 yrs. old, a former nomad, end up becoming a prince? His father, a
nomad, died, and Beorn became a slave cleaning washrooms. One day, an officer’s
cart overturned outside near the cesspool where Beorn worked, and the man’s
daughter was thrown onto the boulder in the center of the pool. She was unhurt,
but the only way to get her out was for someone to wade in through the muck and
carry her out on his shoulders, which Beorn did. He was made “Prince” of a
barren land far away.
They
called it promotion altho’ it looked more like they were just getting him off
their consciences.
4 Tassel-Tipped Fear
Mel understood.
He was afraid of most people. He liked Hath tho’. Mel was already 20, but he
felt like a little boy with Hath—who never forced him to talk about anything.
Like the other night, when that creature appeared. It looked like a kitty cat,
but was as big as a mountain lion and had tassles on the tips of its ears. Mel
and his camel saw it, but Hath didn’t make him say more than he wanted. The
animal came back the next night and ended up staying after Mel tamed it. What
had been a scary-looking beast became Mel’s best friend the rest of the trip.
Sometimes the
things we think we’re most afraid of end up being our biggest helps.
5 You can find
blessings anywhere, if you look hard enough
One hot day when
the sun was blazing, Mel was having fun finding critters in the shade but
screamed when he found a giant lizard (two-feet long!) Beorn cooked it for
dinner; Hath thought it was chicken stew. During the day, Hath gathered rocks
in the desert. Not “just rocks”, but these were “Arabian Diamonds”, worth a lot
to merchants from the East. Even being told later what that “chicken” looked
like when it was alive couldn’t erase the secret smile from his heart.
A desert looks
like nothing but hot sand; but that brought new friends, new food, new finds!
6 Sometimes you wonder
what is happening!
They were almost
in Jerusalem when the star disappeared all of a sudden—was the journey at an
end? No; they would go to the castle and ask where a special baby was born. But
Mel didn’t like people, didn’t like the idea of going to the castle; but if the
Creator said go, he would. Also, the people in the city would be afraid of a
lion, so they had to put Tassie on the end of a rope. But Tassie had always
been free, and Mel hated to do this to her—but again, if this is the way the
Creator wanted it, he would obey.
Sometimes, we
don’t get the full picture, just do what we’re told and find out later why it
was for the best.
7 Mel Makes a Trade
Mel stayed
outside with the animals when Hath and Beorn went into the castle. When they
came out with king, he was with the children who came to see Tassie. The
children were scared of “mean old Herod”; but Herod actually had a lot of
health problems and needed a friend. Tassie sensed this and nuzzled up to
Herod, purring like a kitten. “Look, he likes
you…Your Highness!” Herod smiled and offered to trade special incense for the
cat. Beorn strongly urged Mel to take the incense, so he did. (Later, Beorn
explained it was Frankincense—the smell Mel loved and remembered as “mother’s
smell”—too expensive to get ever again.)
Mel hadn’t wanted
to tie up Tassie, but that’s what made it possible for him to get the
Frankincense he’d always dreamed of. The Creator had it waiting here at the castle!
8 Hath Makes a Sale
While Mel was
trading Tassie with Herod, Hath saw some oriental merchants, and hurried to
sell them his “Diamonds” for Gold. He met his friends at the edge of town; the
three continued their journey.
Go southeast to Bethlehem, Beorn and Hath had
been told at Herod’s castle. Mel told them the King had told him to come back
after they found the baby. They couldn’t make it before dark, but that was OK,
because the Star appeared in the sky again.
9 Even when it looks
dark
To
Bethlehem, the Creator had sent a special sign of love, in the form of a baby
named Jesus. Mel knew it was this Creator Who gave him the present of Frankincense and gave it back to Jesus
as his gift. Hath wanted to thank the Creator for: showing him the desert
jewels as well as the oriental merchants, giving him his friends, guiding all
the way…and wanted to give him all his mind. He made his gift to Him a casket
of Gold.
Beorn
cried he had nothing to offer; but then remembered when he helped that little
girl, her mother had given him a small bottle and told him to keep it; to sell
it only when he really had no other choice. Hath saw Beorn had been given
expensive Myrrh (Chinese doctors knew
it was perfect medicine for mothers who had just given birth); Beorn ended up
making that his gift.
Sometimes, when
you help others, you don’t know how it will come back later to help you when
you most need it.
10 Creator protects
through Dreams, through People
Herod had told
Mel to return to the castle when they found the baby, but the three were warned
in a dream not to go back, so they decided to continue west to Egypt, to stay
there for awhile before returning to their country. As it turns out, Herod
wanted to kill baby Jesus.
The
Creator told Joseph in a dream to take the family to Egypt too, so they caught
up with the three who had just left. The three used everything they had learned
in their desert travels to protect baby Jesus. Hath’s knowledge of stars and
understanding of people’s feelings, Mel’s way with animals—even the wild,
dangerous ones, and Beorn’s life in the desert and ease with Egyptian ways—all
seemed to be sent straight from Creator.
Whatever
experiences are sent our way, we need to learn our lessons well the first time
around. The next time may be for someone else’s life!
11 EPILOGUE
Historically, it
is known these three never went back to Herod. Herod slaughtered all the babies
down south ages 0-2, having no idea that Jesus was in Egypt. This is factual.
Sad, but factual.
The following isn’t
fact; it’s just what imagination put together:
Mel – worked
with children, elderly, and animals, avoided public.
Hath – taught
until he died, but no one knows details.
Beorn – stayed in Egypt with Jesus, Joseph, Mary for a few years; came back after Herod died, and saw the family up to Galilee; then went down south to his birthplace.
Besides, the most important thing isn’t that wise men
existed or what they did, but that Jesus
came. The real story started there!
