Last night we began our evening series of 'travelling with the Magi' on the theme of gold.  Some interesting reflections on the 'city of gold' and how the fulfilment of the prophecies lay in a manger in a back street rather than a jewel-encrusted palace.

After I got home, and whilst doing a bit of research online for my 'frankinsence' thing next Sunday, I stumbled across something that spoke of the therapeutic uses of frankincense and myrrh, and then found a link to this light, but thoughtful, post from Cancer Research UK.  Apparently, frankincense shows promise in treating some bladder cancers, and myrrh evidently for breast and prostate cancers... granted, not why we think the magi arrived carrying them, but interesting to be reminded once more of ancient wisdom that turns out to be scientifically sound.

See also here for what the BBC said about frankincense in this context