A gift ungiven. A path unwandered. A destiny forever changed.
What if there was another wise man, one whose journey never led him to Bethlehem? A man who saw the star but never reached the manger, whose hands were filled with treasures meant for a king but emptied by the weight of compassion. While the world remembers gold, frankincense, and myrrh, his story is told in acts of quiet sacrifice, in the moments where kindness rewrites fate.
Henry van Dyke's The Other Wise Man is not a tale of what was, but of what could have been—and perhaps, of what should always be. It is a journey without a destination, a search that finds meaning not in arrival but in the steps taken along the way. Artaban does not stand among the Magi in the nativity scene, yet his story echoes beyond their gifts, beyond their time.
This is not just a Christmas tale. It is a story for those who have ever felt delayed, detoured, or lost. A story that asks: What if the greatest offering was not gold, but the giving of oneself?