The start of January is the time when we remember the last part of the Christmas story, the coming of the wise men. They have seen a star and believe it shows the birth of a king of the Jews. They initially look in Jerusalem but then this is what happens:
Then [Herod] sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.’ When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road. Matthew 2: 8-12
The wise men have to find a different route back home; there is danger in going back the same way.
As we grow older we may move from the faith and belief systems of our past into a new seeking and a new, rich and beautiful “unknowing” of the intimate presence and hiddenness of the Holy. We too might need to follow our star and journey home by another road.
As we start 2024 what new paths might we wish to explore?
What will help us in our journey?
The poet, Rayelenn Sparks Casey, writes in Homing by a Different Road:
How good to be reminded having finally found the Source of the Light that the wise way home is often by an unknown, untried, uncharted way.
Photo by Andreas Kind on Unsplash