Dear Friends,

 

A friend of mine has recently returned from a trip to the Far East. She happened to visit Hong Kong at the end of a period of national holiday when all the offices and industrial plants had been shut down for a few days – with the result that, for a brief period, the usual pall of smog covering the city was lifted, and the sky and stars could actually be seen. ‘You’re lucky’, someone remarked to her – ‘I haven’t seen the stars for the last six months.’ Just as well that they’re no longer dependant on the stars for navigation; there are many areas under our polluted skies where it’s not easy to pick out the stars.

 

Stars, and star-gazing, have always been of importance to human beings, as sign-posts for getting our bearings, in more ways than one. There is no better way to get a clear sense of perspective, and of our own small place in the universe, than looking up into the night sky on a clear night.

 

You probably won’t get through the Christmas season without singing at least once about The Star – the one which, according to one carol:

            ‘……….drew near to the north-west;

            o’er Bethlehem it took its rest,

            and there it did both stop and stay

            right over the place where Jesus lay.’

I suppose if I had to think of just one symbol for Christmas, I would suggest the star – a bright sign in the night sky over Bethlehem, pointing to where the Christ child was to be found. For those wise men who came from the East in search of the new-born King of the Jews, the star was their guiding light; it gave a purpose and a goal to their long journey. That star must have been visible to all who looked up into the sky – but perhaps others didn’t make the effort; we’re only told of those particular travellers who actually followed it to discover its significance. I wonder if they were surprised by what they found; but whether they were or not, their response was immediate: they went straight in and presented their gifts to the child.

 

Some people try to map out their own futures by so-called astrological means – ‘the stars’, which if you’ve ever glanced at your horoscope in a magazine, is, you’ll probably agree, pure nonsense. In a symbolic sense, however, we all have a star to follow – our own guiding light which points our way into the future. Responding to that, and being prepared to take risks in following it (that means, moving – perhaps into an unknown future) is what we are all invited to do, especially at this time of Epiphany, when we celebrate the journey of the Wise Men, led by the star, as well as moving into the unknown territory of the New Year.

Sometimes our own personal skies are as polluted and cloudy as those above Hong Kong – we can’t see our star, and lose all sense of direction. For some, there’s just an occasional glimpse when everything makes sense and we see where we’re going. Fortunately, there’s company on the journey, so we’re less likely to lose our way entirely.

            ‘Come’, life said,

‘leading me on a journey

as long as that

of the wise men to the cradle.

So wrote the poet R.S.Thomas. For them, the cradle was the end of a journey – and no doubt, the beginning of another journey which would last all their lives, as they sought to make sense of what they had seen there. May our experience of that nativity scene at Christmas be the starting point of our journey into the New Year, and may that star pointing to Christ as the goal of our life’s adventure, give us a sense of direction as we journey on.

I wish you all a happy and peaceful Christmas, and a safe and purposeful journey into 2006.

 

With love, Rosey.