Christmas has turned into Epiphany. Churches that follow
a liturgical calendar observe the shift in seasons on January 6, the day celebrating
the arrival of the Magi at the manger. Everyone knows the story. They had made
a long journey from the East, following a star and stopping by the court of
King Herod on their way to Bethlehem. Herod’s interest was piqued (and his
jealousy inflamed) by their mention of an infant king, and he asked them to
return to his court to report what they had found. Instead, having been warned in
a dream that Herod’s interest in the Christ Child was not benign, the Wise Ones
returned home by a different route.
This year, just at the time of hearing this story in
church, it happens that I am planning a journey I will soon take with two traveling
companions—a friend and a dog. Our round trip will involve driving about 2500
miles. Unlike the Magi, we will not follow a star to some vaguely defined
location; rather we expect to traverse a route laid out with help from various
internet and automobile club sources to get us to a specific address by a
particular date. Like the Magi, however, we will return home by a different
route (though in our case, the change will be governed by our having more time
on the back end of our journey, and thus the chance to take a more leisurely
route and one with—ahhh!—fewer interstate highways and less frenetic traffic).
This juxtaposition of biblical story and real life planning
has set me to thinking about what it means to take a journey. First, of course,
we must decide where it is we hope to go. Then there is the matter of getting
travel directions. How do we choose which signs to follow? Whom do we trust to
tell us which roads to take? How do we discern when our course might be in need
of adjustment?
Though our answers will be decidedly different—at least
on the surface—from those the Magi might have given, here in the first days of
a New Year, these are not bad questions to ponder, whether we are making a road
trip or simply going about our daily routine. Particularly if we want to live
as fully as possible into the season of Epiphany, acknowledging the Light that
has come into the world (and perhaps having our courses readjusted by that
Light), they are worth spending some time on.
And so, how about you? Where is that it you hope to go
today, this week, this season? Who will you travel with? How will you get
there? Whatever your destination, may your travel directions lead you in ways
that are holy, flexible, and wise.
© 2014 Angier Brock
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