“Where is he who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him.” – Matthew 2:2
The story of Jesus’ birth continues for me to be one of great mystery and of sacrifice. It’s not a warm and fuzzy story, but one that tests our willingness to see something new. It’s a story of courage, overcoming doubt, sensing, seeing and stepping from the known into the unknown. It was this way for both Mary and Joseph, whatever their true circumstances of the time. But they made due with what they had to create a space for their new son. From a cold and uncertain place they loved and enabled Jesus to grow in the light of God.
Wise men journeyed and risked following a star and by not returning to Herod. They had seen something new and glorious, something that put them on their knees and sent them into the unknown to tell what they had seen.
Christmas does that to me, calling me into the unknown with faith, into the mystery that lies in the questions and not absolutes. Recognizing something new and seeing beyond the tired old images that give us a false sense of security. I venture from the star and risk following the story into the mystery and uncertainty of where it will take me. Leaving behind for others, with image and word what I have seen.
This quote by Sir Francis Drake is the inspiration for Carl Laamanen’s blog.
“Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.”
Carl writes, “Sometimes we need to lose sight of the land to find the truly remarkable things of this world. I’m embarking on that journey to find the truly moving, the “stars” if you will, of art, whether this art be of the auditory, cinematic or written variety. Of course, there will be wild seas along the way, because most often anything worth finding comes at a price.”
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