Different Roads
The Season of Christmas is a bit of an oddity. While we maybegin preparing for it months in advance, and while the
preparation may reach a veritable fevered pitch at times, the
reality is that for many of us the preparation becomes the
very festival; Christmas arrives, and we are over it.
Perhaps we might view things a little differently. Perhaps
we might see Christmas not so much as a day or
season, but as an apex, a climax. We journey towards it, and
we journey away from it, but it is never itself a static thing.
This can make sense, for Christmas is about birth. We
may prepare for a birth, but there is no time to rest! Any new
parents will tell you that the birth of a child offers barely a
microsecond of rest, before a totally transformed life begins
for all concerned. Maybe Christmas can be like that.
This brief, 12-day season that begins with the birth
of Jesus ends with the celebration of the Epiphany, or
the story of the arrival of the magi. These foreigners are,
for Matthew, the first people to worship the Christ child,
symbolizing among other things that the love of God is for
all people, including those from far away, even from other
faith traditions.
We can only assume that the magi were going about
their daily lives when some kind of cosmic event – a star
– interfered with business as usual and sent them on an
unusual journey. (By the way, 99% of Christmas cards to the
contrary, they did not arrive at the stable, but visited Jesus
and Mary in a house, perhaps when Jesus was as old as two
– see Matthew 2:11.) What is extra remarkable about this
journey, however, is not just that it led them to an encounter
with Jesus Christ, but that it took them in a new direction
beyond that moment.
Can we let that happen in our lives? Can we dare to open
ourselves to God’s spirit leading us, guiding us, nudging us
in a new direction? How much can we resist the temptation to
return to the ordinary, and instead move off on another road?
Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2012 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Advent • Christmas • Epiphany 2012–2013, p. 17
