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Among the Latins, from the seventh
century, we find slight variants of the names, Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar;
Magi: We get the English word, magic. The Magi were the priests of ancient Persian
religion, Zoroastrianism. The
Zoroastrians, that now number nearly 200,000 around Bombay India. They believe that a savior, the Saoshyant
born of a virgin, will bring the resurrection of the dead. Three Magi journeyed to Jerusalem, following
a star to the prophesized messiah. From
Persia, whence the Magi are supposed to have come, to Jerusalem was a journey
of between 1000 and 1200 miles. Perhaps, the tradition has been right in
calling them wise-men; they are “wisdom-seekers” found in all religions who
search for the truth of God.
The Magi came to the Christ
child though the leads within their own religion. What does that say about our relationship of other religions to
the Christ child?
Last Sunday on the Simpsons,
Lisa Simpson converted to Buddhism at Christmas time to the dismay of her
parents, church, and her neighbors. The
fundamentalist Christian Ned Flanders announces to his kids that his Satan
alarm went off as his children flee to the bombshelter in the basement. Unfortunately, too many Christians respond
as the cartoon character Ned Flanders does to their non-Christian neighbors. One chaplain with whom I worked at the
University of Massachusetts, Boston, responded to my acceptance into doctoral
studies in comparative religion: “How can you study the devil?” That’s too simplistic approach.
We live in the most
pluralistic religious country in the world.
If you listen to fundamentalist this country has been a Christian
country from the beginning. They fail to
mention that at the time of European colonizers fled to our country for
religious freedom that there were Jewish settlers, that were Muslims kidnapped
from Africa as slaves, and that there were Native Americans practicing their
own earth-centered religions. We were
from the beginning to the present a religiously diverse culture. But even so, now. I have Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, practitioners of Native
American religions, and even a Zoroastrian.
What is our relationship to
non-Christians? Do we condemn them as
fundamentalist Christians? Those same
Christians condemn us? What about
non-Christians who have never heard of Christ.
Are they condemned? Are they non-saved?
The Magi found the prophesy
of the Christ within their own religion, and they looked to the sky to follow
that star or the comet to the Christ child, bearing gifts.
What gifts can the Magi bring
to us? Who are modern Magi?
Let me tell you a couple of
stories to illustrate how the story of the Magi speaks to me. The first significant experience was some 30
years ago when studying for the Catholic priesthood, a Jesuit friend dragged me
off to a Trappist monastery for a week-end retreat. That monastery for many
years made a retreat with a Japanese Buddhist Zen master, named Sasaki
Roshi. Buddhist and Christian monks had
been sharing their experiences of centering prayer and meditation for
years.
I practiced center prayer for
years, So I thought, “why not?” Sasaki Roshi came a koan, a riddle to
meditate upon. He took his walking
stick and hit the floor, and said: “Christ
hears the sound, you hear the sound,.
Go and meditate.” I , being an
alpha male when it comes to intellectual problems, was determined to the solve
the riddle. I came up with various
answers all through the week-end. The
Zen master patiently would tell, “Too much thinking.” Finally, at the end of the weekend, I went for last time,
frustrated beyond everything. I said,
“I don’t know.” He smiled, while making
the sign of the cross, he said: “In the
sign of the cross, how to experience Christ.
Same answer.”
Before I give you the answer,
let me you another experience. I spent
nearly summer months in India. There I
met Christian scholars studying the various Indian religions to find traces of
references or allusions to Christ within the scriptures. I thought that at the time it was an
interesting way to share the good of Jesus the Christ by finding Christ already
present in a religious culture.
I want to go back to the
koan. I did find the answer; it was not
a conceptual answer that I tried to rationally process. It was transrational, beyond conceptual
thinking. The answer was that God was
to be heard in every place and even the most unlikely places: In the translesbigay community and even
outside of Christianity. The Zen Master
was a Magi, bearing a gift of deep prayer experience of Jesus the Christ. He brought me to an awareness
The Magi came to know of the
Christ child because the Christ was already very present in their lives and
their culture. They followed those
elements to discover the name of God’s Christ.
When I encounter other
religions, I look for the Christ elements within those religions. There are
many Magi around us in the world.
I look to the Israeli Jews
and Palestinian Muslims, trying to keep open dialogue for peace.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they are the children of
God.
Christ is found in those
people, seeking to bring peace. They
are Magi, and we all can learn something about Christ from them. All those who are peacemakers image Christ.
I study Mahatma Gandhi, a
Hindu. He came to his own religion
hearing about the conversion of the Russian author Leo Tolstoi to Christianity
at the end of his life. Gandhi found in
Tolstoi’s conversion the necessary elements within his own tradition to
participate in non-violent struggle for freedom. Martin Luther King Jr., in turn, found in Gandhi’s principles of
nonviolent struggle the basis for African-American struggle for freedom and
civil rights. I hear the voices of the
Magi bearing another image of Christ in Gandhi’s writings.
Let me read these words to
you: “The Holy Spirit is something to
cultivate and the seeds of the Holy Spirit are already within you. To be baptized is to have the opportunity to
recognize this Spirit and that energy are already within you.” These are not the words of baptized
Christian, but the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh from his book: Going Home:
Jesus and Buddha as Brothers. His other book—Living Buddha, Living
Christ—represents another image of Jesus the Christ .
I find that Thich Nhat Hanh’s
efforts to reconcile U.S. Vietnam veterans with the Vietnamese people, to heal
the wounds of war and killing in an atmosphere of forgiveness. I find Christ right in the middle of this Buddhist
community.
I name the Dalai Lama, a
Magi. He has come to the West with a
message of universal responsibility and compassion. I had an opportunity to meet and study with him. When he tells me and others, “That the best
teacher of love is your enemy.” I hear
echoes of Christ’s sermon on the mount.
Love your enemies as yourself.
It helps me to a better Christian when I hear the hateful words and
actions of Christians directed against us because of whom we love. Christ is present in these folks.
Now for eight weeks, I will
be physically absent from this community.
I leave ironically on January 6th, the day set aside by the
Christian church to remember of the journey of the Magi with gifts to
Christ. I will leave for Thailand where
I will teach for eight weeks and live in a Buddhist culture, with students from
27 different Asian cultures. I go as a
teacher but as well as a Christian so-journer and student. I will look for the Buddhist Magi who bring
me gifts and greater understanding of
Christ. Buddhists fighting for
environmental protections, Buddhists fighting for people to live more
compassionately and loving with one another.
My friends, look around in
your places, in your neighborhoods, in the malls, and other places see the
religious diversity within our culture.
Don’t be afraid but learn that many non-Christians are Magi who are
bearing gifts to the Christ-child. They
are bringing the best gift to you, another view of the Christ, from which our
spiritual lives benefit. We can build upon these exchanges to forge a coalition
of people of faith to change this world into God’s kindom.
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