Decmber 2017 - Pastor Craig

 "The wise men set out and there, ahead of them went the star that they had seen at its rising until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother. They knelt down and paid him homage. (Matthew 2:9-11)

 This is a part of the story of the wise men coming to see the baby Jesus. It is a story that we have grown up with and that still warms our hearts. The thought that "wise men" would also come and recognize Jesus as the Savior of the World. Over the years much has been made of Matthew's account. People have wondered about who were these wise men. For the sake of this article, I want to focus on the faith that it took to follow a star.

 For many of us, we need to have a map. We need to know where we are going. G.P.S has been an incredible invention, but you need to know your final destination. In other words, the wise men couldn't use it. They simply had to follow and trust that it was not a wild goose chase. They had to believe that they would be helped along the journey and encouraged to get to the right place. In Matthew, they even, contrary to the male ego, stop to ask directions. Yet, King Herod didn't really know. Instead they headed out again following the star until they found the child.

 The idea of trust and belief is one that is so difficult sometimes for us to grasp. We all know the challenges of our wonderful intersection of Ajo and Kinney. It is always an adventure in travel and in following directions. We never know what changes we will encounter when we get there. Yet, the builders of the intersection try everything they can to lead us and guide us through the maze of pylons and lights. But we can't ever take for granted that we know where we should go on our own, because the signs are constantly changing. In the beginning of the construction, we were initially confused because for years, we had been making that left hand turn from that particular turning lane. Over the past weeks, all of us now approach the intersection with the awareness of wonderment of where should I go today. One of the results is that we have become more tolerant and aware that people will make mistakes as collectively we try to figure out how to get through the intersection.

 I am sure that the wise men had to sell the idea that they were going to be guided by a star. Think of the trust and the faith of those who were part of the caravan. Yet day after day or should I say night after night as they traveled the star became part of their identity and so it did not seems so strange of an idea as when they had started out.

 This year treat this Christmas Season as an adventurous journey that has a wonderful surprise at the end. Not as a road that has been traveled many times before, but a new path that leads to the infant child that touches your heart.

Merry Christmas

Pr Craig