Going Home Another Way
Week 2 – The Journey
Three Magi on the Way to Bethlehem, by Hans Thoma
We only know a little about the actual journey of the Magi, but it’s safe to assume that it was long and arduous. When they started their journey, they believed their destination was Jerusalem. But after arriving in Jerusalem and speaking with King Herod, it became clear that they had not yet arrived at their destination. At this point, the star led them further.
Matthew 2:7-9 (New American Bible)
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage.” After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
Our internal journeys are often like this. At the start, we can be very sure about what we want, where we are going, and how we will get there. But, like the Magi, we can encounter false starts and dead ends. There will be inevitable temptations to abandon the journey. We may follow a star that only we can recognize, and others may doubt or discourage us.
One of the themes of Advent is love. And love is a necessary companion on our spiritual journeys. When we’re most tempted to abandon our journey, we can lean on love from God and trusted companions.
Although we don’t know how many Magi made the journey, we know it was more than one. We don’t know if they all started from the same point, but we know they at least traveled part of the way together. The Magi had each other during the hardships of the journey, and we can imagine that is part of why they persevered in their journey.
Barbara Brown Taylor envisions the three Magi hearing the call and starting from different countries, then finding each other along the way:
“And so they set out, one by one, each believing that he was the only one with a star in his eye until they all ran into one another on the road to Jerusalem. From a distance, each thought the other to be a mirage at first, a twinkling reflection made out of vapor and heat. But as they drew near to one another, they saw the star they had in common, and it was like a tattoo, or a secret handshake, that made them brothers before they spoke.”1
Isn’t this an apt description of how we often find the people we love the most? We’re just going about our lives when someone on a similar journey appears, sometimes out of a mirage. We sense that commonality, are curious to know each other better, and, like a secret handshake, we discover something that bonds us together.
Like the Magi, our journey is easier if we have the love of friends or family to support us and encourage us when we are discouraged. We can also trust that God is leading us in love and will continue providing signposts to keep us on track.
Footnotes
- Barbara Brown Taylor, Home by Another Way, 29. ↩︎
Falling Up After 50 
6th grade. Mr. Inferrara (?) history (?) class. Something about confetti and picking it up off the floor. These are my first memories of you. Although you weren’t a mirage, I would’ve never EVER expected the two of us to become so close and so dependent and so grateful on and for each other. God’s plan — to bring the State of CT FHA President and the Captain of the Cheerleading squad together. Glory be to Him. Although our stars may be more like chocolate or CR trips, we travel together. With thanks and praise.
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I thought of you (of course) as I was writing this one. Who would have guessed that 2 people, so outwardly different in our teens, would end up being life long friends? The memory that came to me was in Miss Albright’s (?) algebra class when I told L. that she couldn’t have the seat that I had claimed, which was next to you. I still don’t know where I found the nerve to stand up to her!
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