30 December 2025

The astronomers third way of thinking is lateral. After presenting their magical gifts, the wise men return home. But Matthew says, ‘Having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.’

They are not fools. They know that they don’t have to follow the same path. There are many ways to get home, many ways to shape a future, many ways to live the life of Christ.

They were able to think out of the box and do something surprising. It is a way of thinking which was championed by King Solomon charged to decide the mother of a disputed child. He changed focus from a live child to a dead child.

And when faced with the woman taken in adultery, Jesus refocused the argument away from the sin of the woman to the sins which are found in every human heart.

And, of course, the whole Christian Gospel is built upon a foundation of lateral thinking – the last shall be first, it is the child who will lead us into God’s Kingdom, the kingship of Jesus is found in a crown of thorns and a wooden cross.

The perspective is not on self but on the other and we are called to reframe our world in this way. It is a difficult process but one which leads to peace of mind, a contented spirit and a joy in living.

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