Third Time is the Charm -- Rhoda and Frank's Trip to Rome

Frank at the bus terminal at the airport waiting for the
bus that would take us into Rome.

In mid March of 2013, my husband Frank and I flew to Rome where we would take our third Mediterranean cruise.  We took our first one back in 2011 out of Barcelona and we've been hooked on them ever since.

Rome has special significance for us.  Both my husband and I are students of history and for all our lives have read and learned about the Roman Empire.  It is amazing to me that you can go through 50 years of your life and read so many books and histories about one place and never see it. And then when after all those years, you do finally see it, it is like a miracle. As a child I had my first encounter with Romans in movies.  I remember one I saw in the 60's about Romulus and Remus.  I also watched The Robe, Quo Vadis, I Claudius and  Ben Hur several times, and these movies planted the seeds of fascination of not only things Roman, but things ancient.  I suppose Technicolor and British actors can have that effect on people.


My passion for things Roman increased greatly in high school when I took Latin.  I loved that class!  While declining nouns, conjugating verbs, learning verb tenses, and parts of speech, I actually learned English grammar.  The vocabulary I studied stuck with me enough to ease my way through my year of college French.  I went on to read several histories and fictional books about ancient Rome.

Sometime in 2010, Frank and I discovered Michael Duncan's podcast, History of Rome 101 and were instantly hooked.  We listened faithfully from Rome's legendary founding by Romulus all the way to it's ignoble and protracted death in the fifth century.  We liked the podcast so much, we are actually listening to it for the second time.

Not a nice guy in the Ben Hur story, but Stephen Boyd made good eye-candy
 in his  military  tribune's  uniform.

Our first Mediterranean cruise two years ago stopped in Civitavecchia.  We boarded a bus and toured the Vatican and the Colosseum.  We saw brief glimpses of the Forum and the Aurelian wall from the bus window as we whizzed by on our way to the Colosseum. It was too frustrating that our brief stay in Rome gave us so little time.  My husband and I promised each other that we would return and for a longer time.







The next year Frank and I returned to take another cruise out of Civitavecchia and stayed a few days in Rome before the cruise.  On our first day, we took a self-guided tour of Ostia Antica and the next day a tour to Tivoli to see Hadrian's Villa.   On the third day, we saw the Colosseum again and for the first time toured the Roman Forum.  It was a much better tour and on our cruise we were destined to see many more Roman ruins in Ephesus.  It is amazing how common-place they are all over the Mediterranean.




In March, we returned to Rome for yet another Mediterranean cruise out of Civitavecchia.  The two days we spent in Rome prior to that cruise were the best ever.  Through two extensive, excellent tours offered by Dark Rome, I got to see more of Rome than I ever did before and came away with a much clearer prospective of the geography and the history.  Once again we saw the Colosseum and Forum, but this time we added the Capitoline Hill and the Capitoline museum.  The Capitoline museum was set up more like American museums with plenty of captions that made a self-guided tour much easier to accomplish than the Vatican museum.  The previous year we hurried through the Vatican museum with a tour guide and saw the highlights, but the large crowds made viewing difficult.

The Temple of Hadrian. A perfectly intact Roman facade.

As we arrived in Rome this year, a new pope had just been elected and the Vatican was even more crowded than normal, so we avoided it.  I'll always love seeing St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican museum and regret that we skipped it this year, but we more than compensated by viewing other parts of the city we had never seen before like the Spanish Steps and the various squares and fountains.  Fountain of the Four Rivers was one of my favorites.  I also got to see the Pantheon for the first time.







Rome is a multi-layered city.  While admiring and marveling over the Roman Ruins, one cannot neglect the beauty and majesty of the Renaissance and the magnificent stories of artists and their patron popes.  One of the most amazing revelations was that so much of the grandeur and beauty of the ancient buildings was stripped away over time to build St. Peter's Basilica and the palaces of the popes.  So much of the marble that graces the exhibits in the Vatican had first graced the exteriors of Roman public buildings.

Fountain of the Four Rivers.  Highlights the splendor 

of the Italian Renaissance. 

There is still much of Rome I haven't seen and there are things I must see again in order to plant them firmly in my mind.  Our third trip to Rome was the best ever, but each time brings a new familiarity and ease in negotiating our way around the city.  Every time we visit, we build on prior knowledge and come away with even greater appreciation.















In conclusion I am thankful for the history I had about ancient Rome and history in general starting in grade school.  The Romans seemed majestic to me, but as I learned more about them, I was forced to  acknowledge their dark side as well as their accomplishments.  In ancient Rome slavery was rampant and for most of their history, social mobility was rare if not impossible for most people.  These were a people who feasted on blood sport and who exploited the wealth in every land they conquered.  On the other hand, Romans had a sense of justice that led to a society with laws and the concept of fair play.  At times they could be enormously tolerant of other cultures and religions.  They were magnificent engineers and though they were not the best at innovation, they improved on almost every technology they utilized.



Though Rome for much of its history was a pagan society and had values very different from the ones I grew up with, their society was much like ours.  I find to my chagrin that so many young people know little or nothing about the ancient Romans.  By knowing their history and the course of events that drew it, we are better able as a society not to repeat the mistakes that led to their demise.  Perhaps by taking their story to heart, western societies might not feel the need to throw away their democratic republics for the tyranny of dictators and oligarchs.  We will be careful not to keep powerful professional armies and we will not give into the temptation to cultivate a permanent lower class we exploit and manipulate with bread and circuses.

View of Trajan's Forum from the window of the Capitoline Museum.

Rick Santorum and Birth Control

Rick Santorum Says Birth control harms women.

As someone who has benefited from birth control most of my married life, seeing that statement come across on the Drudge Report did take me aback. I have never agreed with the Catholic Church's prohibition against contraception, and I can give many good arguments, both biblical and historical, about why I believe they are wrong. Thankfully I am not Catholic, and my husband and I never had to endure guilt when using birth control. My doctor told me after my last high-risk pregnancy that I should not get pregnant again. I would say that in those years between the birth of my third child and my hysterectomy that birth control was a very good thing for me.

Did Rick really say that birth control harms women?

In an election year things are not always what they seem, especially as reported by the Washington Post, a paper most definitely unsympathetic to conservatives. I followed Drudge's link to the Washington Post editorial on how this statement is going to hurt Santorum's electability among women and looked at the clip from a 2006 interview where I heard Santorum say exactly that. I also listened to the entire clip. He explained the official Catholic argument regarding birth control and made it known that this was his personal conviction and that as a legislator he had always supported a woman's right to use birth control. How is this different from President Obama or Catholic politicians like Nancy Pelosi or Teddy Kennedy claiming that they are personally opposed to abortion but support a woman's right to have one? Using the argument from Jennifer Rubin's editorial, Nancy Pelosi and Teddy Kennedy's personal convictions should put them against feminists. Obviously this is not the case. Feminists support Pelosi and supported Teddy Kennedy.

I do believe Santorum expressed himself badly in that 2006 clip, and I hope he has learned some hard lessons from that time when he lost his senatorial reelection bid. What Santorum was really saying was that sex outside of marriage, the sexual revolution that grew from the widespread use of oral contraceptives, has harmed women. I agree wholeheartedly with that sentiment. The sexual revolution has harmed not only women, but men, children, and our society as a whole.

So, if Rick Santorum were to be president, would he take away contraception? Definitely not! If President Barak Obama were to win another term in office, he would take away nuclear warheads from our nation's arsenal and weaken our defenses. President Obama would continue to take away America's prosperity by increasing our debt. By appointing more activist judges to the Supreme Court, he would take away American's rights to carrying and owning guns. Obama's school inspectors now rummage through children's school lunches brought from home. Obama's new IRS agents will take away our freedom to choose not to have health care. In light of that, contraception seems a very small thing. I don't stay up late at night, toss and turn in my bed with fear that Rick Santorum is going to outlaw the pill or pull condoms out of retail stores.

Rick Santorum is clearly a man of principle. Though I don't agree with the Catholic Church on the issue of birth control, I do respect them for standing up against popular opinion. I respect Rick Santorum for obeying the tenants of his church. I would have a very hard time doing so were I a Catholic, which is one reason I am not one.

The only thing I would caution Rick Santorum about is that he needs to remember that America is in a dangerous position right now. This is not the time to bring social issues to the forefront. These issues are important, but they are divisive at a time when freedom loving people of this country cannot afford to be divided. The president of the United States should present a good example of morality, but should not have the power to set that morality or impose it. I think Rick Santorum would agree on that, but he needs to make it clear to the many people out there who have been programmed by the national media to be suspicious of social conservatives.

In this election, concerned Americans cannot be distracted by sound bites and out of context statements. If we are lazy and allow ourselves to be emotionally manipulated by the media, not only will this upcoming election be disastrous for the Republicans, but for the nation as well.

Valerie's Song, Chapter One

Britain
510 A.D.


“Please, Valerie, I cannot go alone. You must come.”

Valerie covered her ears and hurried away down the garden path. She had heard enough about the Midsummer’s Eve festival.

It was a lovely morning to be outside. Cool breezes from the ocean made this June day unseasonably mild. The blooming rhododendrons brought a riot of color to the garden paths while the marigolds, honeysuckle and herbs perfumed the air with sweet, spicy scents. Valerie had worked hard to finish her chores so she could steal an hour out in the garden to practice her harp and enjoy the fresh sea air. She had no desire to waste anymore of her precious time listening to Lowenna’s insane scheme.

Her cousin’s frantic footsteps pounded behind her. Valerie sighed with resignation and waited for her cousin. Running away would not discourage Lowenna. Valerie took a seat upon the nearest stone bench, sneered up at the stone statue of Minerva that presided over a wired ivy trellis, and perched her harp upon her lap. Lowenna sat beside her.

“This notion of yours is folly,” Valerie said looking into her cousin’s brown, imploring eyes. ”If your mother and father were to find out that we went to the Midsummer's Eve festival, we would be in horrible trouble.”

What Valerie really meant was that she herself would be in horrible trouble. Lowenna was Aunt Gwladus’s favorite daughter and would bear little blame for the incident. Aunt Gwladus seemed convinced that Valerie exerted a bad influence on Lowenna. A clandestine adventure in the village during this riotous, almost pagan gathering would further reinforce Aunt Gwladus’s suspicions.

Lowenna grasped Valerie’s arm. Her expression was earnest and appealing, while her eyes shone with desperation. “I swear Mother and Father will never know. They will not even be here, for they will be attending Lord March’s banquet, and I will just happen to become too ill to attend. Once they leave, we can go to the village. Glenda and Ewan have promised to help us.”

Of course Lowenna had her scheme all planned out. She always did.

Valerie shook her head and gave her cousin what she hoped was a severe look. “Nae, Lowenna, you promised your mother not to fraternize with the servants, especially Glenda.”

She held Lowenna's gaze for a long time and noted with dismay the defiant expression.

“Gaius will be there,” Lowenna said in husky, breathless tones. Her willful expression vanished only to be replaced by a look of childlike vulnerability.

An uneasy feeling crept over Valerie at the mention of Gaius’s name. She sat in silence and listened to the warbling song of a lark while she thought of an argument to dissuade her cousin.

“I know this is foolish,” Lowenna continued, “but I must be with him one more time before King Branius comes.”

Despite the troubling specter of another one of Lowenna’s hopeless infatuations, Valerie could not help but be moved by Lowenna’s plea. As flirtatious as Lowenna was, Gaius was different from all the other guards and noblemen Lowenna had fancied herself in love with. The youngest son of Lord Ravenhurst, a neighboring landowner, he and Lowenna had known each other since they were children. He had recently returned home after having been fostered in the Duke of Cornwall's household for the past several years. The Duke's tutelage had transformed him from a boy into an alluring, self-assured warrior.

“Is seeing him again a wise thing now that you are betrothed?” Valerie asked.

“It matters not,” Lowenna said softly. “I promised him we would meet on Midsummer’s Eve. It will probably be the last time I ever see him. I must tell him that King Branius was my parents’ choice and not mine.” Lowenna’s childlike, round eyes moistened as she spoke.

For a long time they sat in silence. Lowenna plucked a marigold and absently tore it apart while Valerie plucked the strings of her harp.

Lowenna brushed petals and seeds from her skirt and smiled coaxingly at Valerie. “Admit it. You want to go as badly as I do. You wish to join the revelers and watch the bonfires burn upon the hills. You can disguise yourself as a peasant and sing one of your ballads in the contest. The crowd would love you.”

Valerie smiled and played a tune as she thought of joining her voice and her harp to the magic of the festival. Valerie had dreamed of entering the bard’s contest and performing one of her ballads since the previous summer when she and Lowenna had first successfully attended the festival in secret. Valerie had heard many of the contestants and knew in her heart she was as talented as any of them.

After the contest, the villagers lit the huge pile of rubble for the bonfire. She strummed a chord on her harp as she remembered the sight of the neighboring bonfires on the surrounding hills and the smells of wood smoke and ale in the air. The peasants had donned their most colorful attire. Merchants had set up booths and sold fine embroidered linens and bolts of fine cloth, bottles of wine, cheeses, freshly baked breads, and fine metal work. Acrobats performed on the village green and danced to the pulsating music.

She and Lowenna had been completely caught up in the experience until a group of drunken lads assailed them. The lewd comments the young men hurled at them made them realize that their finer, conservative clothing made them easy to recognize. It also made them realize that they had arrived alone with no one to protect them and had these lads meant true mischief, there would be little they as mere girls could do to protect themselves. As soon as their unwelcome escorts had encountered maids more responsive to their overtures, they had lost interest in Lowenna and Valerie, and the two girls snuck away from the festival and made their way home.

They had not been caught, and if anyone had recognized them at the festival, they had not told Lowenna’s parents.

Attending the festival in the company of Ewan and Glenda would protect the girls from the hoards of amorous men, but it might not keep Valerie’s identity secret if she sang well enough to win the prize. If Valerie were to sing, she would have to dress even more plainly than the other peasants.

Valerie stopped playing and shook her head vigorously. She could not believe that she was actually thinking of going. If her aunt and uncle were to ever find out, Valerie would be forever banished from Tawelloch and would find herself the wife of their revolting, middle-aged neighbor, Panarius. Valerie’s aunt had been talking about finding Valerie a husband, especially now that Lowenna was to be married.

Lowenna seemed to sense Valerie’s growing misgivings. “Please, Valerie,” Lowenna said, her eyes wide with panic. “If I go without you, I might not be able to resist giving myself to Gaius.” A delicate blush broke out on Lowenna’s face. “He has touched me and kissed me before,” she whispered. “I did not find it unpleasant, but I am not such a ninny not to know where it would lead if I continue to allow it.”

Valerie’s mind filled with dread. If Lowenna was attending the festival mainly to be with Gaius, then Ewan and Glenda would provide them little help. They could offer physical protection and help Valerie and Lowenna appear as fellow servants, but being merely servants themselves, they alone would not be able to protect Lowenna from her own headstrong desires.

Valerie shook her head.

Tears fell from Lowenna’s eyes.

“Even if you have never been in love before,” Lowenna went on, “you sing of it. You must know something of it. Please do not force me to endure the temptation of Gaius’s advances by myself. You are my conscience. I will be safe as long as you are with me.”

Valerie turned her face from her cousin and allowed her gaze to rest on a robin which was now perching upon a rowan tree. Yes, she knew of love, its beauty, its intensity, its power and its pain. Being a love child herself, she owed her very existence to it.

She sung of love, thought of love, and accepted the consequences of her own parents’ immoral foray into its madness and passions, but she had never actually experienced love herself, and with all her being, she hoped she never would.

Valerie returned her gaze upon her cousin and could not help but be moved by the imploring look in Lowenna’s large, brown eyes. The hard set of her mouth and the narrowing of her eyes showed determination. Lowenna would see Gaius one last time whether or not Valerie went with her.

Memories of the festival they were at so briefly last year filled Valerie’s mind and further weakened her resolve. That festival with its free flowing ale and lusty young peasants would tempt Lowenna’s restless nature and make her responsive to Gaius’s sexual overtures if he chose to make them. The music, the fragrant night air, the ale, the fires and the reveling inspired such wantonness. Valerie would have to go, if for no other reason than to help Lowenna. If something were to happen to her cousin and Valerie were not there to prevent it, she would never forgive herself.

The decision was becoming increasingly clear and troubling.

Valerie’s conscience assailed her: she wanted to go tonight, just as she had a year ago. She rarely saw anyone outside of Tawelloch and though she enjoyed Lowenna’s company and sometimes enjoyed caring for her small cousins, she wearied of the many chores she was forced to do. Most of all she wearied of the fact that nothing she did ever suited her aunt. The constant cloud of suspicion she was under and the prospect of living the remainder of her life with an obnoxious, ignorant farmer like Panarius filled Valerie with restlessness.

Lowenna threw her arms around Valerie and made a joyful cry. “You are the most faithful friend anyone could have.” Tears fell anew from Lowenna’s swollen eyes. “Thank you.” She wiped her eyes. “Thank you,” she repeated softly.

The gentle wind blew, the seagulls cried, and the sun rose higher as Lowenna revealed the plan. Valerie listened intently with an exhilarating mixture of fear and daring pounding through her veins while the melody of the ballad she intended to sing played in her mind.
 

Belthazar's Journey

Belthazar's Journey

To the honorable Phraates, King of the Medes and Prince of Parthia,

Greetings and Salutations,

I am writing in regards to my sudden departure from the household of your cousin and governor, Ciretis.

Since I am your humble servant, I do not dispute your right to chastise me for leaving the service into which you entrusted me. Being the just, wise ruler you are, you would not act on the basis of hearsay, but before judging me, you would wish to know my reasons for leaving Medea and setting out for Judea.

As you know, I have dedicated my life to the advancement of truth and acquisition of knowledge in the best tradition of the priestly caste into which I was born. Through study of the stars and the interpretation of dreams and visions, I have faithfully served you and your family. For thirty-five years I have advised you in spiritual matters. And so, I appeal to you, Great King, to regard with favor the friend of your youth, your confidant in the early years of your reign, to remember your servant's honesty and sincerity. And though I have set off on this journey without the blessing of my present master, please know that I still remain a seer dedicated to the discovery of truth, and that it is this very truth which now takes me to Judea.

The extraordinary events which led to this journey began five years ago after that devastating fire which had claimed the life of my wife and our three sons. Not only had I lost the woman who had supported me and given me joy through thirty happy years of marriage, but I had lost my progeny. Into my sons, I had poured the wisdom and heritage of countless generations of my family. I had been assured the secrets imparted to me by my father would be passed on through the ages by my sons, and that through them our mighty line would continue to prosper and serve through the ages to come. That assurance was wiped away in one day by a meaningless fire started by a drunken slave boy.

Suddenly I was totally alone--an object of pity and scorn. Those who worked under me secretly claimed that the gods had taken my family away because of grievous sins I had committed. Others surmised that I had offended the gods by my great pride. Needless to say, I had lost the respect of my brethren here in Medea, and so you sent me to your cousin's home in the mountains. Though you had only wished to spare me the pain of my memories and help me heal from this terrible grief, I misinterpreted it as a negative judgment on my abilities, and the result of the wicked rumors set forth by my enemies and detractors.

Foremost among these detractors was Casper. Oh, how anger burned in my breast at Casper, the young mage I had once championed and whom I had mentored.

I will never forget the day when Casper entered my court-yard and personally delivered your decree.

When I looked up from my star charts and met his intense green-eyed gaze, I was immediately struck by the beauty of his blue silk robe. Where had he acquired so expensive a garment? With his fine raiment and carefully trimmed beard, he looked stately, important--quite a contrast to the disheveled young boy whom I had introduced to your court ten years before.

I stood, bowed deeply and bade him to sit.

“Nae," he said. “I must be on my way." In his hand was a scroll which he handed to me. “This is from the king."

“Is the king well?" I asked. “I have not seen him for many days. It is not like him to communicate with me in writing."

“The king is well, but is much preoccupied with state matters,” Casper replied gravely.

I took the scroll and looked at Casper to see discomfort in his bearing. “You know what this message is,” I said.

He lowered his eyes. “I do indeed.”

“Then what is it that the king could not tell me face to face?”

“Read the letter.”

I tossed the unopened scroll on the table. “If you were any sort of friend you would tell me.”

“Very well then,” he said with resignation. “You have temporarily been relieved of your position. Since the loss of your family, you have been distracted. Your ability to advise the king has been compromised. The king is still very fond of you, but he felt you needed a new task and a change of scenery to help you heal from your loss.”

Sympathy softened his expression, and I could see a trace of discomfort in his eyes. At that moment I could almost believe he was sad for me.

“And who will be my replacement?”

He lowered his head in silence and then lifted his gaze to mine. “I will,” he admitted in a steady voice.

“You have done quite well for yourself, my prodigy. The student has at last replaced the master."

He bowed in acknowledgment. “Yea, I have. You have taught me well, and I cannot but admit that I am pleased with my new position, but I did not want it at your expense. You must believe that. I have not half the knowledge you have, but the king felt he had no choice. Things can not go on as they are."

“What do you mean?"

He lowered his gaze and drew his eyebrows together as if in deep thought. “You are bitter since the tragedy,” he finally said, “and that is to be expected. No one faults you, but your grief and your hurt have clouded your vision."

I picked the letter up, broke the seal, and with one motion tore it from its handles and crumpled it my hand. I threw it at Casper's feet. “Get out of my sight, traitor."

I retired to the mountains and lived out my supposed exile the best I could. I watched the stars and read the charts for my new master, but my heart was not in the task. Though I was spiritually dry and began to doubt the validity of my forecasts and insights, I was able to greatly influence and enrich my new master.

As my tasks became increasingly routine, a great darkness settled over me. For the first time in my life, I was cynical. I no longer believed in the wisdom I had learned from my fathers. In time I skillfully manipulated the results of my astrological forecasts and interpretations of dreams and to my astonishment, my master became even more enriched.

It was not long before my conscience tormented me for this ruse. I could not sleep at night, and when I did sleep my dreams were troubled. I stopped eating regularly and suffered from excruciating head-aches.

My life was empty, and I wished to die. One day in my pain I cried out to the star-filled sky and begged that my life would soon end, for I had not the courage to take it myself. I wept for the past--for my wife, for my children, for the days when I had sought enlightenment, and I realized that what I wished for more than anything was the return of my innocence. I wanted truth, beauty and purity in my life again. I wanted to be clean.

One night I had a dream in which I was alive, but walking around like a rotted corpse. Everywhere I went, the sight of me filled people with dread and fear. It was as if I were a leper, for men threw stones at me and bade me to be gone, and women shielded their eyes from me in total disgust. And then I beheld a man dressed in a pure white robe. There was glow and aura of holiness about him. Unlike all the others, he was not afraid of me. He gazed upon me with eyes which seemed to delve into the depths of my soul.

And then he spoke to me. “Belthazar, I will make you clean.”

He held his hand out to me, but I would not take it because I was dirty.

I walked away and behold there before me was a white lamb without spot. I heard the voice again. “Belthazar, I will make you clean."

“Yes, make me clean," I said.

And before my eyes the lamb was slain and his blood gushed forth and covered me.

I woke from my dream, and for the first time in years, I found a respite from my bitterness. As I went about my work I asked for an interpretation of the dream, for I knew it was of great importance.

And then the strangest thing happened. I observed an extraordinary event in the sky. There was a very bright star sitting in the Jewish house. It was completely unknown to me. At first I thought it was some sort of anomaly easily explained away. I had seen them before and had heard accounts of them in the past from my father, but this star persisted and grew even brighter.

I began to doubt my sanity. Perhaps I wanted an answer so badly to my personal struggles that I was imagining the heavens bore the key.

But as I observed the star, my enthusiasm returned. Somewhere within my being I began to understand that there was a purpose and order to this universe, and that in some way I was connected to that plan. Whoever had mapped out the heavens cared that I was lonely, bewildered, and without hope.

Unfortunately while all this was happening I was far away from my fellow seers, and I could not seek their advice. I received more dreams, and these were more specific. In the dreams there was a glittering man, a messenger of God, who told me to prepare for a long journey. I was to leave everything behind and follow this star.

The dreams persisted night after night. In one dream I was instructed to take all the gold I had been saving and to use it all to buy myrrh. This myrrh was very expensive, but I did as the heavenly messenger commanded.

Then I was told to leave and ride westward to Babylonia where I would find companions for my journey, for we were all to go to Judea and find the long promised King of the Jews.

But I could not simply leave my master and ride to the western lands. I was still in your service and on loan from you. I could not defy you whom I had pledged to serve. But the heavenly visitor told me that I was now to serve a higher king than yourself, a heavenly king who would take care of me.

As I puzzled over this matter, I decided that loss of honor, death or imprisonment, could not be worse than the darkness I had previously walked in. What I had strived for all my life, what my forefathers had looked for and had never seen, was to be found in Judea. I had no choice but to go and find this king of the Jews, for before I had sworn an oath to you, I had swore one to my forefathers and to my fellow seers that I would be first and foremost a seeker of truth.

I gathered some provisions, a few of my belongings and the myrrh I had bought and loaded them onto my camel. I had told your cousin, the governor, I was taking an important journey and did not know when I would be back. He was angry, but he did not hinder me.

And so I rode to the western edge of Babylonia and found the inn which the heavenly messenger had described. I had been instructed to go to the well and wait. This I did. And so I waited until two men on camels came into sight.

When the men dismounted, I gasped, for I immediately recognized the brightly colored blue robe of one of the men who was now approaching me.

“Casper," I cried out, guilt flooding through me at the horrible accusations I made to him at our last meeting. In his bearing and in his face I could see stalwart purpose and strength of character. I realized that Casper had always been a devoted seeker as I was and that in the later years of our association, I had been envious of his rapid success.

He embraced me.

“It is good to see you again my friend," he said.

“You are here to follow the star?" I asked him.

“Yes, for I have been studying the charts as you taught me and the conclusion is unmistakable. The long promised king of the Jews is to be born, and we must go and worship him."

I had not previously known our third traveler, Melchior, but he too was a seer and had seen the star and was compelled to follow it.

Melchior was a wealthy man from a family of seers who as a child had received a promise in a dream that he would see the King of all Kings. He had waited all his life for this event, and had saved up gold for that day. When he saw the star he knew it was the sign he had waited for.

Casper had been given a recurring vision of a great priest who would intercede before God on behalf of flawed mankind. His gift was frankincense.

I promise you, great king, that my story is true and can be collaborated.
Though the journey is physically difficult, I cannot begin to tell you the joy my companions and I possess as we share our hopes with one another. After we find the promised king, I will write to you again and tell you of it.

Please be merciful in your thoughts of us as we travel, and receive us back into your presence when we return. After beholding this marvelous wonder which countless generations of men have longed to see, I have no doubt that we will be even more qualified to serve you and that in the end, you will be one beneficiary of our new enlightenment.


Your faithful servant,

Belthazar

The End