The morning that I woke up with such a dull ache in my heart should have warned me. I was not coming down with a virus, but rather that was the day of the Tsunami. All that sadness and grief and horror was a part of me as well. It was a long time before that feeling began to leave. And it is no wonder, since the tragedy continues. The stories focus now on those that receive the gifts of help and hope.

As I remember that experience and many others, I wonder about the magi, those “wise men” who paid attention to their inner understandings of their purpose. Listen to what the Bible’s Good News Translation says about the events following the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem:

So Herod called the visitors from the East to a secret meeting and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem with these instructions: “Go and make a careful search for the child; and when you find him, let me know, so that I too may go and worship him.”
And so they left, and on their way they saw the same star they had seen in the East. When they saw it, how happy they were, what joy was theirs! It went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. They went into the house, and when they saw the child with his mother Mary, they knelt down and worshiped him. They brought out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and presented them to him. Then they returned to their country by another road, since God had warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod. Matthew 2: 7-12.

The ending of this story/event takes us to a unique perspective of the choice made by the magi. They “returned to their country by another road.” This was obviously not the original plan for them nor was it from Herod. What prompted the choice? It was God’s warning in the dream. The magi interpreted the dream as God’s “voice” protecting them for the future. This is a story of beginnings, of protecting the future for Christianity…a new way of understanding God.

A dream and a new direction. An unexpected direction. New “light-on-the-subject.” A “dawning.” An epiphany. A new understanding of what God means for our lives. This is what this New Year and new issue offers from ecumininet™ online! Our writers share their wonderings and thoughts with us as we seek to understand the mystery of God’s plan for our lives, and the story that we live out in the process.

During Epiphany we remember that famous star-story and the finding of the Christ child. Love and joy were saved (by God-in-the-dream) to be passed down from the magi. But what they also shared was their choice to pay attention to God’s voice.

Perhaps recent tragic events will remind us of our need to listen for God. But even the simplest things of life, such as a dream, can be reminders. We need to pay attention. Getting home for future love and joy may depend upon it.

Janine C. Hagan, Editor-in-Chief

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