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Hallo again to all. 'A cold coming we had of it', TS Eliot's Journey of the Magi famously begins. It ends some four short verses later, a poignant reminiscence of an old, worldly-wise king who saw his salvation and was never again satisfied with his life. While meditating on his long-ago journey, he had a good deal to say about the conditions of his travel. Had he been a reviewer for a Zagat's guide, woe betide the inns and restaurant of his trip.
Since actual journeys were difficult and dangerous, they were seen as good literary metaphors for the Christian life itself. Dante's Commedia and Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress are amongst the best known of the genre, but there are all manner of examples. No-one for most of history expected travel to be smooth and effortless; no-one expected life (a journey from birth to grave) to be other than fraught with troubles, detours, and perils. Journeys taught patience, and life was a journey.
We don't do well at being patient, waiting in confidence and hope, trusting in the Lord. We want it Our Way. And we want it Now. We'll take an Epiphany journey of 90 minutes, thank you very much, on the most direct flight possible. Which journey is more real? Ours? Or that of Balthasar and his companions? We're planning to think on these things as we pack up and store the nativity set this year, carefully wrapping tissue paper around the travel-weary kings and their camels. In this New Year, we hope you will join us on the road in slogging on, singing all the while, not demanding that the journey be shorter or easier or unnatural, and getting to know better our fellow travellers. See you next week. Godspeed!
Last
updated: 8 January 2006 *Okay, astrologers, if you prefer the older term for scientist. |
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