On Being Really Psyched about the Three Wise Men: And Zoroaster, Christ, Buddha, and Baha'u'llah

"Three Wise Men at Nativity Portal"
Uploaded on October 5, 2006 by Carlos Lorenzo on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic

Carol-lee visits with her local newspaper reporter. -gw

I recognize in the Christmas story the appearance of the three wise men and the birth of Christ as the fulfillment of a wonderful prophecy. A lot of religions forecast the return of a prophet. Zoroaster predicted his return with some celestial certainty. The manifestations of God always predict their return. They always give clues. I have a deep and abiding love of Christ. But I believe Baha'u'llah (who founded the Baha'i faith in 1863) is the most recent manifestation of God. To look further back could be counterproductive. It would be looking backward. I want to look forward. Dad was a lay leader of the church; Mom was queen of the choir. They were central to their congregation and they set a wonderful example of commitment. I grew up seeing religion as a very real thing in the world. I needed something more; something that let me be a thinking person and a woman with my integrity intact. I believe Baha'u'llah is the return of Christ. Baha'is who grew up as Buddhists might think he's the fifth Buddha. Zoroastrians might have another explanation. My family makes a very big deal about Christmas and a lot of other holy days. We always have a Christmas tree. We do the whole Christmas thing, with a pageant. Who can resist? Especially if you're really psyched about the three wise men.

http://www.thothweb.com/article6180.html, original source: Burlington Free Press.com