04/11/2024
It's 50 Days until Christmas, and so many people will be beginning their journey of rest in the story of Jesus today, as found in our new book: '50 Days of Christmas: Rediscovering Peace on Earth.
As there are some copies in the mail, and new orders coming in (hint, hint), we thought we'd share the Christmas reflection for Day 1. This week's theme is 'pilgrimage':
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Matthew 2:9-11
Reflection: Often known traditionally as the Three Wise Men, we don't actually know how many magi there were, or even if they were all men! What we do know is they were, in every sense of the word, on pilgrimage. They knew stories of a child-king, they followed a star from where it rose to where ever it led. They came prepared, not only to give fine gifts, but to worship. They were not concerned by the lowly circumstances they found – perhaps their journey had taught them to look beyond the superficial.
All these qualities could be applied to our pilgrimage towards Christmas – that starts today – and more broadly, the faith pilgrimage of our lives. Pilgrimages are well known in Christian tradition, and other faiths, as a way of leaving the constraints of normal life, to be more focused on deeper, spiritual goals. They often involve travel and we find many examples in the stories of Christmas – the main characters were often on the move!
What's especially wonderful about the magi's pilgrimage, is its sheer unlikeliness. God had came to a people who had his prophecies and revelations, but mostly they missed his arrival. Instead it's people from another culture and land, without the benefit of generations of preparation, who are drawn to a baby king, are ‘overjoyed’ when they find him, and bow down to worship, unlocking their treasures to lay at his feet. The foreigners, the aliens, the outsiders did what we too need to do – be single minded in pursuing Jesus.
Rediscovering Christmas: We hope you enjoyed the first of our 50 days of Christmas devotions, that culminate on Christmas Day. Perhaps, as with the magi, you feel like an unlikely or even disqualified pilgrim. But you have taken the first step of a pilgrimage. All you need do is keep going.
