Today’s blog
Lynn Murphy Mark
The wonder of it all
At church yesterday we had a guest artist perform for us. Our music director, Steve Schenkel, knows so many great local performers that each Sunday we are delighted with yet another St. Louis star. Erin Bode is listed in google as “An American Singer” and she managed to get us to our feet after each song selection. She sang three things, two of which she had composed herself. She spoke a little before each song, and the one that especially spoke to me was titled, “Star Song”.
She said there is so much magical about this season that it is hard to pick just one thing. But at one time she was taken by the role that the Star of Bethlehem plays. We all know about its existence around the time of Christ’s birth, and it is mentioned in some carols – “Star of wonder, star of light” echoes a lot at this time of year. She set out to write a song about God having chosen this one star out of billions of others, and put the star in place to guide shepherds and wise men to witness a special child. The song was sweet.
I took her point about the star’s role in the Christmas Story and thought back to Santa Fe. Our house there had a small window on the staircase. In the hours before dawn when I usually get up, I would go down the stairs and stop at the landing to admire the star that appeared in the window every Advent. In my imagination, the brilliant orb recreated the Star of Bethlehem. It’s quite possible that the star I depended on was actually Jupiter, shining in the night sky at this time of year. Anyway, my sleep laden spirits were lifted by the view every morning.
Matthew’s gospel is the only one that mentions a star. After the Wise Guys met with evil King Herod, “…they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.” (Matthew 2:9, NIV). The men, and we don’t know how many there were, had traveled a great distance to witness this holy birth and to bring the three gifts that they carried with them.
Because we are a species specializing in curiosity, there have been many attempts to understand how such a phenomenon occurred. I found an article from the Royal Museums of Greenwich that spells out five explanations of what might have been the circumstances around this celestial wonder. One that was offered up in the 17th Century by astronomer Johannes Kepler, says it was a nova or a supernova explosion. Apparently there are records in China that have “one possible mention of a nova or supernova over the potential time for Jesus’s birth.” Perhaps it was a slow moving comet. The article also says it might have been a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, or perhaps a conjunction of Jupiter, Regulus (the brightest star in the constellation of Leo), and Venus.
My admiration for the Star of Bethlehem only increased through this little astronomical exploration of its possible origins. I will always remember how the witnessing of that star through a little rectangular window in the high desert of New Mexico caused a stir in my soul that is still there. The mysteries of Advent live in my heart and come to life every year at this time. Star of Wonder, indeed.