Friday, December 4, 2020 … An Advent of Hope
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born King of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising and have come to pay him homage.” ~~~ Matthew 2:1-2
Have you driven through a long and dark tunnel? I do not like tunnels, because the darkness makes me scared. I often hold hands with others in the darkness. When I visited the Zion National Park, I needed to drive through the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel. There is no light in the tunnel, like the above photo. I could not take the photo very well. You might feel how scared I was via this unfocused photo. All I could rely on was holding my wife’s hands and the front car lights that my vehicle projected. It felt like more than a half hour to drive, but there was an end of the tunnel.
This reminds me of the journey of the wise men from the East. They moved at night, because they followed the star. To see the star well, ironically, they needed the darkness. We cannot see the stars during the day, as it is so bright. They might be afraid of the moving at night, or the journey of the foreign country. However, three wise men moved bravely together for this journey of uncertainty. They followed the star with a hope to see the child, even though they had a lot of unknowns. As we all know, at the end, the wise men celebrated the birth of Jesus.
We do not know exactly when this pandemic will end. However, for this journey of the unknown, we can be together bravely like the wise men. We can be together even more smartly via smart devices, unlike the wise men. They were wise, and we are smart as well as wise! Furthermore, we can still follow the star, the light of Christ, which gives us hope and love. At the end of this darkness, we will celebrate together with joy when we meet each other face-to-face!
Prayer for Advent Hope (Joyce Rupp, O.S.M.): I will bring into my prayer and my heart, hope, for someone who is hurting right now. Amen.
Hwapyoung K., Gilroy United Methodist Church
