Wandering Wise Men

In our office are three wise men who wander the hallway from the time we start Christmas decorations until Epiphany.  I've posted about them before. They were a gift from Rev. Monty Brown when he retired from active service as a minister.  When he had them, they wandered the hallway at St. Marks until Epiphany, when they gathered around the Christmas tree outside his office. 

Their path through our hallway is sometimes arduous.  Sometimes they go off the path and get lost in someone's office for the day.  The day before we left for the Christmas holiday, they ended up on a conference room table (gathered there to prevent the cleaning staff from bumping them with a vacuum cleaner).

I like the wise men.  They teach me something every year.

1. Discipleship requires patience.  They don't end up at the tree right away.  It takes weeks for their travel. And it's not very far.
2. Discipleship doesn't always follow a straight path.  Sometimes there are interruptions or mistakes, but we keep moving anyway.
3. Discipleship isn't without danger.  One of the wise men looses his head (literally) every time he moves.  Poor thing. 
4. Discipleship can begin as a gift from someone else.  Who can you help on the way today with your gift of love and grace?

When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was.  When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy.  Matthew 2:9-10