Why I Follow This Star

Today I am pondering the magi following the Star of Bethlehem. It may seem a bit early for that. The “three kings” normally do not show up until Epiphany. In liturgically challenged churches, they may make an appearance in Christmas children’s pageants or Christmas Day readings. But in W.H. Auden’s dramatic Christmas poem “For the Time Being,” the magi are introduced right after the angel speaks to Joseph and soon after the Annunciation to Mary.  

The wise men tell the reader why they are following the star. The first says, “To discover how to be truthful now / Is the reason I follow this star.” The second wiseman says, “To discover how to be living now / Is the reason I follow this star.” The third says, “To discover how to be loving now is the reason I follow this star.” Then they sing together,  

At least we know for certain that we are three old sinners,  

That this journey is much too long, that we want our dinners, 

And miss our wives, our books, our dogs,  

But have only the vaguest idea why we are what we are.  

To discover how to be human now  

Is the reason we follow this star.”  

 

I love that these “three old sinners” confess that they miss their dinners, their wives, their books and their dogs while on their holy pilgrimage. Although I wonder why they list their dinners before their wives! Like the disciples of Jesus, these wise men of the East left everything to follow truth. There is a price to be paid for a spiritual journey.   

I find myself joining the magi in their song. I have been on spiritual retreats and missed my wife, my dinners, and my books ... in that order. (I never had a dog.) I also like that these “wise men” admit they “have only the vaguest idea why we are what we are.” I appreciate such healthy agnosticism. As Socrates said,  “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”  

My favorite part of this section in when the star speaks. Yes, the Star of the Nativity has a speaking role! It says: 

I am that star most dreaded by the wise,  

For they are drawn against their will to me,  

Yet read in my procession through the skies  

The doom of orthodox sophrosyne.  

I shall discard their major preservation, 

 All that they know so long as no one asks....  

 

Beware. All those who follow me are led  

Onto that Glassy Mountain where are no  

Footholds for logic, to that Bridge of Dread  

Where knowledge but increases vertigo.... 

  

The allegories in this part of the poem remind me of John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, which I suspect was Auden’s inspiration.  This mystical part of the poem resonates with me. Regardless of what “lovers of wisdom” (the literal meaning of the word “philosophers”) are looking for, what they find is very different from what they were expecting. What they find is beyond orthodox sophrosyne (I had to look that word up!), logic, and knowledge. Even the decision to begin the journey was beyond their control.  

 

Where the star leads us is a mystery, and it remains a mystery. That is how we know it is Divine. I recently finished reading a mystery/detective novel entitled “Spirit Crossing” in which the main characters are Native Americans. In the book they repeatedly refer to God as the Great Mystery. I do not know if this is authentic Indigenous religious terminology, but I love the term. 

 

In following the Star we are looking for a Mystery beyond our imaginings. It is the “star most dreaded by the wise” because it explodes all human wisdom. Just as we cannot fathom the distances between the stars in the heavens, so we cannot fathom the Divinity of Heaven. If we knew how the search would change us, we might not begin the journey. Yet we follow the star just the same. We are drawn against our will. That is called grace.