Moreover, in Kipling's world-view, East and West were hopelessly divided, the two cultures never being able to live together in harmony.
Multitudes still share Kipling's views.
Today they maintain that Arab and Jew can never co-exist. Nor can Protestant and Catholic, Black and White, rich and poor, Christian and Moslem. In their view the world will always be a divided and hostile place. Today's Gospel account offers a hint of another possibility. It tells of strange and mysterious visitors from differing cultures coming together to pay homage to the Christ child.