Signs Portents & Wonders, Then & Now

O Star of wonder, star of light.

Star with royal beauty bright,

westward leading, still proceeding,

guide us to thy perfect light. 

                      refrain from We Three Kings

  When the [Magi] had heard [Herod],the king, they set out, and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen in the east, until it stopped over the place where the child was.  When they saw that the star had stopped,they were overwhelmed with joy. 

On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Matthew 2: 9-11 NRSVue 

 This is the time of year for "Best of 2022" lists, everything from books to music to scientific advancement. I listened to a CBC Radio interview with Alannah Mitchell this morning as she talked about her favourite science stories from the year. If her name is familiar, Mitchell has written regularly for the United Church's Broadview magazine and its predecessor, The Observer. 

At the top of her list was the James Webb Space Telescope which was launched on Christmas Day 2021 and is now a million and a half kilometres from Earth. Part of its success is that it now transmits images back to our planet which reveal some of the mysteries of the earliest moments of the universe in ways I can't begin to understand. 

Mitchell's enthusiasm and sense of wonder were very evident, to the point of being ecstatic over what is being revealed.

 We are approaching the Feast of the Epiphany in the church year which celebrates the journey of the Magi, astrologers and astronomers whose journey from the East to find the Christ child is described only in Matthew's gospel. The carol We Three Kings didn't make it into our Voices United hymn resource because, well, they weren't actually kings and we don't know if there were only three, and who wants to sing We Three Magi? 

The successful launch and the mission of the James Webb Telescope are remarkable examples of human ingenuity. What this evokes touches a deeper sense of wonder which I figure is as aspect of the spiritual quest of all humans. 

1 Teach me, God, to wonder, teach me, God, to see;

let your world of beauty capture me.

Praise to you be given, love for you be lived,

life be celebrated, joy you give.

                                             Voices United 299

Procession of the Magi Benozzo Gozzoli (1459).