During Advent this fun joke about the three Wise Men and Epiphany circulated on the internet: "Three Wise Women would have asked directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole, brought practical gifts, and there would be peace on earth." Good modern humor for a treasured old story.

Epiphany is tomorrow and celebrates the three Wise Men who followed the ascending star to its rest over Bethlehem. Matthew's Gospel is the only record of these foreign travelers, but in mythology, such a star rose to its zenith to reveal the presence of a divine hero.

The travelers stopped in Jerusalem to ask King Herod if he knew where the infant king of the Jews would be born. The question was the epicenter of a 10-point shaker on the theological Richter Scale: "When King Herod heard this he was greatly agitated, and so was the whole of Jerusalem" (2:3).

Curiously, the Wise Men lost sight of the star while in Jerusalem, only to find it again when departing the walled, fortified city and the presence of a deranged king who would try to murder all first born male infants in hopes of killing the messiah of God.

Under the star's zenith, the joyous Magi honored Christ with precious gifts common in Arabian cultures. What were the Magi doing in the Gospel? The popular interpretation is that they fulfilled the prophecies in the Book of Numbers, Isaiah, and the Psalms, that the world would pay homage to the God of Israel. I prefer the view of New Testament scholar, Herman Waetjen, that God's choice of the Jews was universalized with the birth of Christ, to all humankind, and that the Magi symbolized God's inclusivity.

I would love to know the Magi's stories: how they came to follow the star, where they were from, and how the experience changed their lives. W. H. Auden's treatment of the Magi in his poem, "For a Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio" intensifies my questions and interest.

(The Star)

"I am the star most dreaded by the wise,
For they are drawn against their will to me…

(1^st Wise Man)

To discover how to be truthful now
Is the reason I follow this star.

(2^nd Wise Man)

To discover how to be living now
Is the reason I follow this star.

(3^rd Wise Man)

To discover how to be loving now
Is the reason I follow this star.

(The 3 Wise Men)

To discover how to be human now
Is the reason we follow the star."

Upon kneeling at the manger they conclude:

"O here and now our endless journey stops."

Are we not like the Magi, drawn against our will to Bethlehem's star, seeking to be truthful, to live, to love, and to be human? Why do you follow the star?

Do we not seek the spiritually maturing life in which we attain to ever-greater virtue, learn to love more freely and openly, and grow in hope in spite and because of the world? Do we not follow the star so that we never separate who we are as "adults of God" from what we do day-by-day?

We have tasted God at the manger and now through the mysterious travelers. As the Magi, we experienced the transcendent ecstasy and fullness of Christmas, and like them, we return to routines that may quickly dull the heart and eclipse the joy. Our busyness and the absence of genuine spiritual quiet threaten to spike us off the path of a spiritually maturing life into quests where we might actually miss the self-revealing God who wants us to experience truthfulness, life, love, and humanness.

If we want to follow the star as the Magi did, and probably for the many of the same reasons, what are the characteristics of our spiritually maturing lives?

First, if we are to know truth, love, life, and humanness, we are called to genuine presence: we are to be intentionally and fully present to our inmost self, present to God, and present to others. Presence is about relationships that are purposely focused on an ever-deepening loyalty and love.

Second, spiritual maturing requires stability. We are on the journey for the long-term through dry desert and lush oasis, from mountaintop to valley floor.

Finally, spiritual maturing is a matter of staying attuned through prayer, contemplation, study, and service. Prayer and contemplation keep us attuned to God, to our most authentic being, and to others. They ground our inner being in Christ. Study ensures that our spirituality is dynamic and open. More than a mere academic exercise, study opens us to ever-deeper experiences of the Spirit. Service that is born of prayer, contemplation, and study is disciplined compassion grounded in the justice of God.

As the Magi, may each of us hear the words of Isaiah as our clarion call to follow Bethlehem's star and the star baby it welcomed into the world: "Arise, shine out, for your light has come, the glory of the Lord God is rising on you, though night still covers the earth and darkness the peoples" (60:1, 2).