The Tale of the Hollow King and the Three Wise Men
(An imaginative telling of Daniel 3)
Stuart Higginbotham
There once was a king whose heart was hollow. He craved above all for it to be filled, but he could never say this, because the many scars he bore prevented him from being nimble and vulnerable with anyone. Over time, he actually became less aware of his own woundedness, which happens when we deny it. To bend in any way caused him so much pain, so he made a choice–as much as anyone in such a state makes a choice–to live fueled by anger and the hoarding of wealth.
With every coin he grasped, a part of him hoped the hollowness in his heart would be filled, yet it wasn’t because gold can never fill such hollow places.
The Hollow King soon gathered all the gold that was within easy reach, and yet the hollowness persisted. So, he next looked for ways to take the coins of others, thinking if he had more gold than anyone else in the kingdom, the envy of the people would make him feel more satisfied. But he did not feel satisfied, because gold and envy can never fill such deep hollow places. And sometimes, it is hard to tell the difference between true envy and resentment tinged with anger.
Over time, the hollowness of the king caused him even more pain, and some part of him decided that the only thing that could possibly make him feel better was if the people actually worshiped him. Perhaps the devotion of the crowds could do what gold and envy could not.
So, he had a monument built to himself to stand tall in the middle of the city. It stood above all others, with his name and image written large for all to see. As everyone walked past this monument to his glory, he ordered them to bow down and give thanks that they had the privilege of being his subjects. Finally, a part of him thought, some of the hollowness in his heart would be filled.
Surprisingly, perhaps, many people did bow down and give the Hollow King their devotion, because their own woundedness led them to think they could find meaning by drawing some superficial strength from his pursuit of power. The Hollow King appreciated this and loved the idea of what this could mean for his future. His pride then led him to crave that every soul in the kingdom would bow down, so he demanded just that.
Only one day three men refused to bow.
When everyone came into the center of the city, where the monument to the Hollow King stood, three men remained standing while everyone else bowed in loyalty.
The Hollow King was enraged and called them before him. As they stood there, he ordered the three men to bow down again and give him their devotion. He raged about how much he expected their loyalty, and he threatened retribution if they dared to stand against him.
The three men calmly looked at one another. It was not that they were not afraid, on some level, of what the Hollow King might do. Rather, their fear had somehow found itself held within something much larger and more powerful: Truth.
The three men knew the truth: that such a hollowness can never be filled by grasping and taking from others, or by demanding such devotion and loyalty. They also knew that such hollowness, having its roots in deep scars, can easily lead to pride and arrogance if it is not tended to and healed properly–and such a hollowness can only be healed from the inside.
So, they stood.
The Hollow King, of course, was rageful. His face twisted with anger and he lashed out at them, demanding that they be burned publicly in a large fire so others would know the consequences of such disloyalty.
As the crowd gathered for the spectacle, the Hollow King smiled because he thought this would finally focus the devotion back on himself, but the three men were not afraid. They stood calmly in the midst of the burning fire, because the angry and fearful parts of themselves had already been burned away. The flames could not harm them.
The crowd’s eyes grew wide as they watched, and the Hollow King’s eyes grew wide as well as he realized some sort of spell had been broken. When the king and the crowd looked, they saw a presence within the flames themselves, and marveled at what that might mean.
The king stood before the crowd and suddenly realized a deeper truth about his own self worth. And he felt a very old tightness within his heart loosen. He opened his heart to something greater than his own ambition, and the entire community was healed.
At Christmas time, we all know the story of the tyrant king and the three wise men. But centuries earlier, there was another moment when three men dared to resist the arrogant ambition of a king who sought to put himself above all others. Because of their witness, we remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and our lives are strengthened by their faithfulness as we face the call to bow down in our own time.
May we be strengthened by their prophetic imagination and their willingness to pay attention to the healing presence of God which is the only thing, in the end, that can fill the hollowness in any heart.
Thoughts on a Contemplative Reformation 
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