Following the Star

"O Star of Wonder, Star of Light, Star of Royal Beauty Bright...Guide us to the perfect Light."
We are all familiar with this traditional Christmas Carol, but what was it like for those Wise Men, unfamiliar with the promise of a Messiah and other teachings of the Hebrew Scriptures, to leave their homes and families and trek an estimated thousand miles on camels, merely on the scientific calculations that indicated the birth of a king somewhere in the West?  They packed up treasures of gold, fankincense and myrrh along with other supplies and, in a sense, blindly followed the star.  Most of us would want more information and directions before leaving on such a trip.  How long it took, we don't know, but Herod took no chances in ordering the slaughter of boys two and under.  Matthew says they found the child in a house, so the Holy Family was no longer in a cave or animal shelter.  The Wise Men "prostrated themselves and did him homage", or in another translation, "bowed down and worshipped him"  (Mt 2: 11) They opened their gifts, presented them to him and left by another route, being warned in a dream. 
A simple story, but fodder for ample reflection on this day:  Do we have the trust to leave my security behind to follow God's call or this invitation to put aside our plans to lend a hand to someone in need? Jose Pagola asks, "to whom do we bow down in worship?  Who is the God we worship in the depths of our being?  We call ourselves Christians, but do we live worshipping the Child of Bethlehem?   Do we place at his feet our wealth and prosperity?  In our lives there is always a star that guides us toward Bethlehem." (Following in the Footsteps of Jesus, B p. 43).  Do we have the faith and courage to follow it and all it implies?
Bro. Rene