Humility In The Stars
The Heart Opens Widest For Those Who Bow Down
by Eric Elkin
“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.”
How does one follow a star with the precision of a Magi? The story of wise men visiting Jesus pushes the realm of believability. Yes, scholars in the ancient world studied the stars for information. We know travelers used them to navigate the seas and foreign lands. But reading the stars to locate a small village, a particular house, and a baby? That seems very suspicious to me.
Sometimes in the modern world, we discount the ability of stars to guide human wisdom. Long before there was a calendar year, people used the stars to mark time. Certain constellations informed them when it was time to plant crops, or when to prepare for colder weather. Stars never created anything like a Y2K glitch.
Most people know early explorers used the stars to navigate their journeys into unknown territories. Few people realize modern pilots still must learn celestial navigation to fly. Knowledge of the stars provides an emergency back-up when technology fails or provides inaccurate information. The stars do not fail, nor do they lie.
The information resting in the heavens was so overwhelming that people used the stars to make predictions and explain life. For thousands of years, astrology was understood as a highly valued academic science. Today, we know differently. Research has called into question horoscopes, personality traits based on star patterns, and events determined by the stars.
“Who is more humble? The scientist who looks at the universe with an open mind and accepts whatever the universe has to teach us, or somebody who says everything in this book must be considered the literal truth and never mind the fallibility of all the human beings involved?”
Modern science has let us know, a star does not announce the birth of a king. Nor can a star rest above one particular house in a small village. So does this make the whole story fiction, ancient folklore for simple-minded people? Some in the modern world think it does.
I would suggest the story captures our imagination. It invites our limited modern minds to grasp the great mystery of life. Yes, modern minds are limited. Those who only believe what can be proven have a very narrow scope of life. We tend to look down on ancient people for believing in unverified information. Yet, like the stars, unverified information often proves more resilient than we care to admit.
The great mystery of life is we do not know, nor can we explain most of what happens in our daily existence. Life is so much bigger than we can comprehend. It is more dynamic, resilient, and powerful than our minds can understand. Unfortunately, overwhelmed with the concerns of the day, we shrink our thinking down to what we can see in the mirror.
What I enjoy about this story is the humility woven into its telling. Those who follow the stars, who embrace the mystery of life, bow down to an infant. They will never become his followers, yet, they understand power when they see it. Those who embrace worldly power, Herod, refuse to submit or acknowledge this divine power.
Humility is essential for an abundant life. It helps us understand our problems are not insurmountable, nor ours alone. Humility embraces mystery and reminds us it is okay to not know everything. For some reason, I cannot explain, the heart opens widest for those who bow down in humility. They see life in everything.
Click to read Matthew 2: 1-12
Reflection Questions:
When have you studied the stars?
How much of the Christmas story depends on factual events?
When have you found life in mystery?
How can being open to mystery make you more humble and appreciative of life?
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