a blessing for wisdom for Epiphany Sunday
Wise men.
They followed a star to where you lay,
tiny king.
Wonderfully ordinary in the sounds
you made,
perfect in the way all babies are,
but worshipped by important men,
wise men bearing gifts,
looking, searching, plotting trajectories
and making plans that,
once they were sure the signs were right,
they’d follow.
Blessed are we who are searching,
looking for the signs,
desiring above all the star, the wisdom,
the light by which we might see.
In our time, in our world.
God, can the light of that star reach us,
these thousands of years later?
And how would we know it,
the fact of your coming?
It seems hard to see in the broad daylight,
But, oh, how it meets us in the dark
from light-years away.
All creation knew it:
the star at your birth,
the seas at the sound of your voice,
the darkening skies at your death,
the gladdened hearts at your sweet return.
God, blessed are we who bow in the dark,
feeling our way forward in the unknowns
to wait and watch for the pinpoint of light
that will be your gift to us.