At Christmas, the tale of an ancient journey to follow a star gets told and retold. , reading it to her daughter, discovers fresh light.
My family has always enjoyed reading Christmas stories together. One of our favorites is The Stone—a children's book, retelling a tale Marco Polo brought back from Persia about 700 years ago. It's an old story, but the subject is older still—the universality of God's love and humanity's continuing ability to know it.
The legend tells about three wise men who follow a star to find a king. When they arrive at the place where the star stops, the youngest and most impetuous, Jasper, rushes in first with his gift. He finds not a child, as expected, but a young man just like himself. Next, middle-aged, conservative Melchior goes in and finds neither a child nor a young man, but a man like himself. Finally, the elder Balthasar goes in and encounters an old man. Back outside, they discuss the mystery.
