Happy new year from all of us at the Bield!
One of the things I love about this time of year is the stars. The darkness of January can feel bleak, but darkness also enables us to see light more brightly. I love to stand outside on crisp, clear nights looking up at the stars. The darker the night, the more dazzling the display of constellations. Sometimes it literally causes me to catch my breath in awe and wonder, and the comfort and nearness of the One who created it all enter my heart.
As I write this, we are in the days following Epiphany Sunday, that time when we hear again about the wise ones whose attention was captured by a star. They were present to this star, open to its guidance and willing to risk the journey that brought them to kneel before the Christ child in adoration; then they went back by another way. As we move into this new year, we have journeyed with the wise ones and offered our adoration to the new-born infant with joy-filled praise. Now it is time to journey on. I wonder how you will do so. Will you go home the same way you came, or will you travel on by another way? Is there a God-star whose light is calling you to new experiences, new ways of prayer, new relationships, or new ways of reflecting the light and love of Christ to a world that, for so many, is broken and hurting? Or maybe there’s a hope, a dream, a desire that’s drawing you forward in a new way? As you ponder whatever this time of year rises up within you may your journey be illuminated by guiding stars.
And, who knows, perhaps one night in 2024 you may find yourself at the Bield, standing in the dark outside the Steading gazing up at a star-filled sky, experiencing something of the wonder and awe of God!
“When the song of the angel is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and the princes are home,
The work of Christmas begins.To find the lost
To heal the broken
To feed the hungry
To release the prisoner
To rebuild the nations
To bring light into the darkness.”
Howard Thurman
May the light of Christ guide your way and may you know all blessings of hope, peace, joy and love.
Valerie