Part 2: “SIGNS”

The fact is, observing Christmas is an opportunity to remember & then experience a spiritual awakening or re-awakening of God’s great love for us, which is the real reason we celebrate. At the very least, coming off this event now a month or two after the day set on our calendars to celebrate, we should feel somewhat spiritually rejuvenated & hopeful & awed. After all, with the birth of Jesus, God incarnate, we are promised to be healed, renewed & given the gift of eternal life. Those gifts are not temporary gifts given for a few days of celebrating. They are eternal gifts regardless of what month we may be journeying through. Thankfully, even when we do not experience God’s gift fully, we are blessed with glimpses of gifts given to us from God, signs that remind us of or re-awaken us to His great love for us & that call us to seek out His message for us, regardless of what time of the year it is. God’s gifts are forever ongoing.

Perhaps that is why the church in her infinite wisdom, entreats us to linger just a while longer at the manger before we rush headlong into a new year. The birth of the Christ child is a starting point not an ending. As one journey appears to be completed, another one begins in God’s ever unfolding journey of life graciously given to us, immersed with unending signs from Him to lead us ever closer to Him. And so, we read in the Bible, of God sending a sign in the form of a bright star in the sky for shepherds & then for astrologers, (whom we sometimes refer to as the Three Kings) to lead them to the manager where the Holy child lay.

The shepherds went forward in faith, following the sign of the star that led them to the manger. The astrologers who were not people of faith, but rather curious scientists went forward in an unconscious response to the Divine intervention of the sign given by God to lead them to the Holy child. God’s grace always precedes human action. Theirs was a moving star. When they stopped, the star stopped also. As long as they kept their eyes on the star they were led towards the Holy child in the manger. However, when they took their eyes off the star, they got lost & needed to make a mid-course correction if they were to go where God was leading them. When they got lost, they could have given up & retreated. They could have doubted themselves & lost confidence that the star was really a sign from God in the first place. But they did not. Though they were bewildered, they paused & asked: “where is God in all this?”, seeking God’s guidance. Not unlike the wise men, when we take our eyes off the signs God set before us & base our journey on our own assumptions, desires & ego’s & not on God’s leading, we also lose our way on our life journey.

However, when we take our eyes off of God’s sign set before us, we do not need to stay stuck. The signs of God’s presence are all around us. Whenever we feel a lack of peace, whenever we feel in conflict, or alone, confused, afraid, lost or hurt, it is important for us to pause & ask the question: “Where is God in all this?” The “star” is always there for us. If we seek it, we will find it & be guided to the right place, the place where God awaits us, bathed in the new awakening gift of new life.

We enter this new year in the season of Light that shatters the darkness & brings us hope. Throughout our journey this new year, darkness will come & will go but regardless of the lurking darkness that threads its way into our lives, we now know that the Divine Light of God our Creator shines in the darkness & is always there guiding us on our journey. The Light shines in the darkness & the darkness will never overcome it. Walk in the light of God’s signs lovingly given to us & the spark & Spirit of His love will fill your heart. AMEN

~Posted by Rev Kathryn Bindig, MDiv. MS; Pastoral Care Minister with assistance from Rich Muscatello; Director of Business Development & Strategy