We three kings of orient are…? Wise men? Magi? Paparazzi? What are Magi anyway? Never mind, doesn’t matter. These guys are all over Christmas. Even though they don’t come on the scene until after the birth of Jesus, in the second chapter of Matthew, we usually start feeling their presence right at the beginning of Advent. They’re a big part of the way we decorate our Christmas culture. I guess that’s just because they make such good Advent companions. They are seekers, pilgrims from afar, crossing the wilderness in the dark of night, following the star of Bethlehem. They are bearing gifts redolent of flavor and aroma and beauty. They are figures of mystery and wonder and awe. They are us.
Why Are We Following This Star?
words and music © Garrison Doles
from his CD Songmaker’s Christmas
Why are we following this star?
What is the meaning of this star?
None here among us knows the way
Crossing the earth
Here in the dark
Surrounded by the dark
Faces to heaven
Our faces to heaven
Why are we following this star?
There is an image of the Magi that we all know from Christmas cards and storybooks and songs. The three on their camels crossing the desert in the night. The one brilliant star that they follow.
We recognize ourselves in this image. Whatever agendas and ambitions fill our lives and occupy us, there is a part of each of us that journeys timelessly across a vast expanse, and the sky is dark, and there are no landmarks, and the only means of navigation is the one brilliant star. And our faces are turned from the earth, turned up to the heavens, up to the one star.
And we are bearing the gifts that we have gathered from our lives—
here, this is what we have to give,
this is what we have to offer,
this is who we have become,
what we have made of what you gave us;
these are our fruits that grew from the seeds you planted,
these are our gifts—are they what you wanted?
And we are searching and full of questions, full of wanting to know
What is this mystery?
What is this mystery?
Why are we following this star?
What is the meaning of this star?
None here among us knows the way
Crossing the earth
Here in the dark
Surrounded by the dark
Faces to heaven
Our faces to heaven
Why are we following this star?