Trust Your Guidance

 

Guiding Stars

“If I wanted to make a painting of the arc of my life, I could put a star on the spot when I was twenty-six, the day I realized I had to change directions drastically. I didn’t actually see a star, but I felt one. When we consider the star of Bethlehem, we might pay more attention to the sensation of a star than to any attempt to make factual sense of it.”

Thomas Moore (The Soul of Christmas, p.53, Franciscan Media, 2016)

          In the Gospel of Matthew (2:1-6), we are told the story of the Wise Men from the east who came to King Herod in Jerusalem to inquire about the birthplace of the King of the Jews, because they saw his star rise in the East and came to worship him. There is much this story does not tell us, so much, in fact, that we created a legend to fill in the gaps. We don’t know where they came from, how many there were, how they knew the star was for the King of the Jews. We have layered in those details over time just to make the story more complete. I have my own theories about who they were, as I’m sure you do. We know from historical records that there was a supernova around that time, so we’ve also added that physical evidence for giving the star factual authenticity. The bottom line is, there was a shared sense that something momentous had happened—it was star guidance.

          We can probably identify many times in our own lives, just at Thomas Moore did in his, when we had a sense of “rightness” about something even though we knew it portended major change. I remember a time in the late 80’s when my husband and I decided to move back to town from a house in rural Alabama. I looked at houses for weeks, going with a realtor from one to another. Nothing appealed to me even though we looked in good neighborhoods and at good houses. Finally, the realtor named one last house, though she sounded reluctant since it was inside the city and was not in an especially desirable neighborhood at the time. The minute I walked into the house I knew this was it! Not because it was a better house than the others we had seen, nor was it in a school district that was recommended, but because it felt right. Like Thomas Moore, I could put a star on that day because the guidance was so accurate. Many people have come and gone, but I’ve been here ever since—it is one dependable constant in my life.

          The important part of the story of the Magi, besides finding Jesus in Bethlehem is that they trusted their guidance and followed it. If there is one lesson I have learned in my long life, it is this: ask for guidance and sincerely trust that you will receive it. Ask the universe—the stars—and wait expectantly for an answer. And when you feel a sense of rightness, do not hesitate. Your guiding star is no less important than the one the Magi followed. It may lead you to something lifechanging.

                                                  In the Spirit,

                                                  Jane