Night Fires

Journey of the Magi

If the camels in Eliot’s poem were a problem, so were the men who cared for the camels! The Magi who followed the Star had not planned out their journey, nor adequately prepared for it, but they saw their appointment as divine; find the one promised in Isiah 14:1, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”

The camel men, however, were hired hands. They had no vested interest in the trip other than getting paid. And when the going got rough, they simply left. Back to the silken girls and the sherberts, no doubt, or at least to an easier task.

Romans 13:12-14 says, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.” TS Eliot’s conversion was his own, “casting off as darkness” and attempting to put on the light. But it’s not an easy thing to do. Many temptations in the world call us away from the journey to Christ. Often those newly converted feel a spiritual high, a sense of excitement. It has been described as a transformative experience. Sooner or later, reality sets in and the road becomes rough and rocky, and we grumble.

Did I grumble during the years I cared for an ill husband and carried far too many burdens? Yes. More than once. But unlike the camel men, I never ran away. I knew that I had been called to a journey of my own, and while I did not really know the way, I knew that God did.

REFLECTION: What were some of the challenges you faced during your own faith walk? How did you endure them?