The star of Epiphany has me thinking and looking upward to the heavens This last month, there has been a bright star at sunset, it is Venus I guess. It must have been spectacular to see the star above Bethlehem. But the story of Epiphany isn’t just about the star – it is about finding Christ around us.. and identifying the signs that point us to Him.
This New Years Eve, I was asleep by 10pm and startled awake at midnight by the sound of fireworks and the neighbor boys jumping up and down and screaming on their porch outside my bedroom window. As I tried to return to sleep, I began to recall New Year’s Past.
For instance, when I was in junior hight, I too went out on my porch at midnight to blast my french horn in a very loud Auld Lange Sine. I certainly awoke my share of sleeping neighbors.
But there was New Years Eve, when I was not on my front porch, but at a party.. and right before the stroke of midnight, I ran outside to be alone and look up at the stars. Outside in the cold, it was just me and the bareness of the field, the hollow sounds of celebration from houses in the distance. That New Year’s Eve, I stood looking up at the stars and felt my heart ache for something greater. It was there that I I had an epiphany, as they say. It was that my true self was not to be found back at that party, or even out alone in the field.. That my true identity rested in God. I felt that there must be a purpose for my life, and I desperately wanted to know it. The peace I felt that night, was a sense that I just needed to keep on the path. Under the stars, I felt deep peace that God was setting the direction if I could just keep following His star.
All of us have a star we must follow – Following stars is not easy, even the wisemen stopped and asked for directions. But all of us have a course that God has charted, and the star always leads us closer to the love and grace of Jesus Christ.
This New Years Eve, I was asleep by 10pm and startled awake at midnight by the sound of fireworks and the neighbor boys jumping up and down and screaming on their porch outside my bedroom window. As I tried to return to sleep, I began to recall New Year’s Past.
For instance, when I was in junior hight, I too went out on my porch at midnight to blast my french horn in a very loud Auld Lange Sine. I certainly awoke my share of sleeping neighbors.
But there was New Years Eve, when I was not on my front porch, but at a party.. and right before the stroke of midnight, I ran outside to be alone and look up at the stars. Outside in the cold, it was just me and the bareness of the field, the hollow sounds of celebration from houses in the distance. That New Year’s Eve, I stood looking up at the stars and felt my heart ache for something greater. It was there that I I had an epiphany, as they say. It was that my true self was not to be found back at that party, or even out alone in the field.. That my true identity rested in God. I felt that there must be a purpose for my life, and I desperately wanted to know it. The peace I felt that night, was a sense that I just needed to keep on the path. Under the stars, I felt deep peace that God was setting the direction if I could just keep following His star.
All of us have a star we must follow – Following stars is not easy, even the wisemen stopped and asked for directions. But all of us have a course that God has charted, and the star always leads us closer to the love and grace of Jesus Christ.
