Feast of Epiphany: A cold coming we had of it...

That is how T.S.Eliot opens his story of the Journey of the Magi.  It was cold, long, miserable, difficult and alien.  But they persevered, and eventually found the Infant Christ in Bethlehem.  Most people who know about journeys at that time, and the distance between the Arabian countries the Kings lived in and the inhospitable hills of Judea, would say that it must have taken the best part of a year for these Eastern kings to arrive at their destination.  Months of hardship, months of missing their homes and the comforts of civilised living, months of putting up with strange customs, and even stranger languages.  A whole year of wanting to turn back, thinking they must have been mistaken!! 

Not our image is it?  We usually put the Kings beside the Crib, picturing them as waiting with their exotic presents, surrounded by their camel boys and their charges, those rather strange-looking animals with their humped backs and long, narrow aristocratic faces which seem to disdain human beings.  We see the silken coverings the kings wore, the splendour and uniqueness of the presents of gold, francincense and myrrh the servants carried for them, the  colourful turbans, the gleaming white teeth in the dark faces...  It is all so exciting and so different.

But the reality?  It would seem to be more in tune with Thomas Stearn Eliot's view than with our own,  more romanticised one.  Look at the familiar lines of the opening stanzas:

A cold coming we had of it,

Just the worst time of the year for a journey, and what a journey!

The ways deep, and the weather sharp.

the very dead of Winter.

And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,

lying down in the melting snow.

There were times when we regretted

the Summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,

and the silken girls bringing sherbet.

Then the camel men, cursing and grumbling

and running away, and wanting their liquour and their women

 And the night fires going out,  and the lack of shelters.

and the cities hostile, and the towns unfriendly.

and the villages dirty, and charging high prices.

A hard time we had of it.

So the quest to find the King of Judea was not an easy one.  Is it ever?  If we look at the journey of the Magi, then we have to say that, like all of us, they set out in hope and a certain excitement to follow this unusual star that had appeared in the East, but, as the journey progressed and reality bit in, they almost gave up.  They were obviously intelligent and gently-nurtured men who were not used to the rigours of such a journey.  They missed their homeland, and the comforts it offered them.  That of course is natural, but what is remarkable about their journey is that they were faithful to the inner prompting that made them go on when they were dog tired, cold, hungry and disillusioned  That is courage.

Their courage was rewarded by the  sight of the star stopping over, of all things, a stable.  What an exercise of faith that was required of these three royals! They went in and saw the child Jesus with his Mother, and they offered their gifts, the best that their country had to offer, to her for the support of this refugee family.  It must have been a wonderful experience for them, the fulfillment of all their hopes and dreams.  When they got back to their old country, according to the poem, they "were no longer at ease in the old dispensations". In other words, they were so changed by meeting Jesus in the flesh that they realised that the things they had believed in before meeeting him were no longer of  use to them.

 

They saw their own people through new eyes, as "an alien people clutching their gods".

Isn't that part of our journey too?  Aren't we so touched by Jesus and his teachings that, to quote the New Testament account of the Transfiguration , we too "see no one but only Jesus." The following of our star is also our conversion experience.  At the end of it, we are led to the beginning, the coming of our Saviour to meet us and to bring us to his world.  Then our journey is complete.

Until then, we have to go through the rigours of the journey, searching for signs of his presence in our lives.  We see them in the most unexpected places, and in the most surprising people.  Jesus isn't fussy where he lives - he speaks to us all the time, but especially in the poor, the lonely, the disenfranchised, the ones who, to use Liverpool parlance "aren't much cop."  They are of no account in our world, but Jesus loves to show them the way to him, so that we can, in turn, be evangelised by them.  Try it some day!  


In the meantime, have a lovely Epiphany and remember to follow that star, no matter where it leads. Wise men did so and look what they found.  Wise people still do so, and they too have found Jesus with his mother Mary . Not forgetting the wise and gentle Joseph.

So with the three Kings, now enjoying the delights of Heaven, we pray: 

"Guide us to thy wondrous light! "

New Year Blog - Put your hand into the hand of God

It was Christmas, 1939. The Second World War had just begun.  The lights were going out all over Europe, a terrible darkness and hopelessness was around, an evil  greater than anything people had seen in their lifetime was creeping inexorably around the world. King George VI was making his speech to the nation.  He was afraid too. If you have seen the film “The King’s speech” you will know why.  He suffered from a crippling speech impediment which held him prisoner and prevented him from communicating effectively to his people.  But, through the support of two people, his wife and an unknown speech therapist, he learned to overcome his fear, and to believe in himself.  His message of that year, so long ago now, has put him in the history books for all time.  He looked at the darkness all around him,  and felt the fear and uncertainty of his subjects.  No one knew what the future was to hold.  As a nation, we were looking down the barrel of a gun.  But this shy, unassuming man, who came to kingship unwillingly, reached down into the depths of his own beliefs and said simply, quoting Minnie Haskin’s opening lines “The Gateway of the Year”:

“I said to the man who stood at the gateway of the year
‘Give me a light, that I may tread safely into the unknown.’
And he replied,
‘Go into the darkness, and put your hand into the hand of God
That shall be to you better than light, and safer than a known way.' "

It was his legacy to us, even though he was not aware of it.

Today, we too stand at the threshold of a New Year, with all its possibilities and opportunities.  It is exciting and thought-provoking.  But it is also scary.  We peer fearfully through the bars of the gate, half-open now and leading to a new pathway which is shrouded in mist.  We think about the world we live in, the legacy of a world-wide recession, the corroding effect of drug and alcohol abuse on our young people, the violence and ruthlessness we see nightly on our screens, the hunger and despair of so many and we begin to feel afraid…  But, like the king so long ago, we know what we have to do.  We reach out, in hope, for the comforting grasp of those hands which lead us and support us through good times and bad times.   He is always there, and like the vociferous fans at Liverpool Football Club, we realise that ‘we never walk alone.’  So this year let’s ‘walk on, walk on with hope in our hearts’ encouraging one another to trust in God. 

Our Lady was told by the powerful Angel Gabriel: ’Do not be afraid!’  Why should we be afraid? That is the message we carry in our hearts through 2012.  In a newly-minted year, we too say:

     When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high,

     And don’t be afraid of the dark.

     At the end of the storm is  golden sky, and the sweet silver song of the lark.

     Walk on through the wind, walk on through the rain  though your dreams be tossed and torn.

     Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart and you’ll never walk alone!

Of course not.  Have a happy New Year, enjoy the greetings, the fun, the fireworks and the parties but remember:

‘Put your hand into the hand of God, that shall be to you better than a light, and safer than a known way!’  Great advice. With an assurance of our prayers here.