A Late Epiphany

I'm still up because both my boys woke up in the middle of the night, so I'm sitting with them as they fall back asleep. I'm going to treat this like it's still Wednesday because in the chaos of this day I forgot that it was Epiphany, which is when we remember the Magi bringing gifts to the Christ Child.

I was explaining to my boys the other day that we don't know how old Jesus was when these visitors arrived. We only know they came from the East and, in Asia, the East covers a lot of territory. We don't know how many there were.

What we do know is these individuals of high honor lavished this young family with immensely valuable gifts. That they knelt before a child and simply being in his presence brought them great joy. We know that they did not tell a tyrant king desperate to hold on to power where that child was.

Even though it probably isn't super accurate, I have always loved the Christmas/Epiphany hymn "We Three Kings." Partly because the chorus sounds like it's a song a raucous crowd would sing in a pub as they swung their mugs in rhythm to the melody. But also because those words evoke our now journey with Jesus:

Star of wonder / star of night / star of royal beauty bright / westward leading / still proceeding / guide us to thy perfect light.

Because I feel like we are still chasing after that star. It's a little bit of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and a little bit the chase of going after something you love. You find Christ and it feels you with joy. You resist the call of whatever tyrant kings (metaphorical and literal apparently) are trying to hold on to power in your life. Then you wake up and the star is further in the west and you pursue and you find Christ again.

All of which is to say, my hope is that you keep running after that star. That you keep pursuing Christ. Even if the journey is long and difficult, that you will be like those Magi of old and seek after this child who turned the world upside down.