Twelfth Night

 

This is the way last evening that Mother Nature chose to top off the Twelve Days of Christmas!
Today, the old date of Epiphany, I want to do some more thinking about the journey of the Magi. When I read the story of the Magi I am reading the story of my own life-long quest for the Living God. When I think of God as Beyond, I don't mean that God will always elude me.
God doesn't lead the Magi by the star to Bethlehem only to say, "Well, you still have another fifty miles to go." They find God in the Child. Then what? We hear no more about them except "they go home by another way." James Taylor has written an intriguing song about how things will be different for them after this experience.
The yearning within me for freedom, for goodness, for bliss, for more, is the star that stirs me up and sets me on the journey. I am always sure that a little further up the trail, around the next turn, the view will be better.
What might hold me back? There are people who think it's too risky to go on such a quest. There are religious leaders, like the scribes in Jerusalem, that know the way to Bethlehem but won't go there. Who am I to make the journey? There is a star in my heart that tells me that "this" isn't all there is, that entices me to go searching for more. I need take only one step and God will take a thousand so that we can come together.