The Vision of the Star

“When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them.” — Matt. ii. 9.

Where had the star been while they tarried in the city of Herod? Had it ceased to shine in the sky? Had it been extinguished when it had led them to the palace of the great king? Nay, it was still there, but they had lost sight of it; it was hidden by the streets and buildings of the world. The wise men had entered into an uncongenial atmosphere, into a scene where wisdom did not reign. They had ceased to see the glory of the vision that had led them forth rejoicing; it had been dimmed by the mist of worldliness. But now they had left the world, and the star again appeared. It had been waiting for them all along in the pure heavens, and when their eyes had lost the impurity of earth they beheld its calm light once more.

So is it ofttimes with thee, my soul. Thou criest out that the glory of other days has departed, and that the star of Bethlehem has set, when all the time it is thou that hast departed from the glory. The star has never left the sky, but thou hast lost sight of the sky. Thy vision has become bounded by the forms and pageants of what men call the great world, and thou canst not recall the glow of other days. But if thou shalt depart from the contact of worldliness thy star shall reappear. If thou shalt leave the form and the pageants thou shalt see the calm light that made thy earth a heaven. The glory of thy East shall be given back to thee — the glory of the days when thou wert young, and when the heart of thy youth bounded as the roe. Thy star waits for thee, waits to lead thee to the manger of the child- Christ; and when thou shalt reach the humility of Bethlehem thou shalt be thyself a child again — a child in heart, a man in wisdom.