Our gospel reading for this Epiphany Sunday is a marvelous story about confrontation. The wise men — more commonly known as the three kings today — were teachers of science and truth. They had been watching the heavens, searching for a sign of God's ac­tivity in the world, when they were confronted by a star. The poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, was confronted while reading their story in the gospel of Matthew. The result was his poem, The Three Kings.

And the Three Kings rode through the gate and the guard,
Through the silent street, till their horses turned
And neighed as they entered the great inn yard;
But the windows were closed, and the doors were barred,
And only a light in the stable burned.

And cradled there in the scented hay,
In the air made sweet by breath of kine,
The li…