Wise Men and Kings

ISLAND IMPRESSIONS

BY FR. TOM PURDY, RECTOR OF CHRIST CHURCH

This is a month of kings and enlightenment; it is a time for newness, fresh starts, and the hope that comes with them. January is more than the month we spend writing last year’s dates on our checks, more than the resolutions we hastily made on New Year’s Eve. It is a time to see with new eyes and hear with new ears, if we’re open to it. Even the month’s name, January, directs us towards such things, named for the Roman god Janus, the god of doors and beginnings.

The first kings to arrive this month might better be noted as Magi, the three Wise Men, the ones about whom we sing at Christmas, who journeyed from afar to find the child born under the star in the East. Although most of our Christmas pageants portray the Magi as arriving just after Jesus’ birth, it was probably a delay of two years or so before they actually found him. We have enough trouble getting kids to sit still for a single church service. Imagine if we made them wait two years for the conclusion of the story! As it is, we have trouble waiting for the full twelve days of Christmas for the Kings to arrive on January 6th, the day the Church commemorates the event. Better stick with the thirty-minute pageant for now.

The next king to arrive is The King of Rock and Roll. Elvis doesn’t do much for me, but I know he’s still a beloved rocker, actor, and hip gyrator. Regardless of whether we’re fans or not, we must agree that Elvis changed the music world, and had an incredible number of hit songs. Born on January eighth, I imagine there are a fair number who look on that day with special devotion. We have to wait a couple of months for the Georgia Elvis festival in Brunswick, but perhaps some will begin their commemoration a bit early.

The most important January King, in my mind, however, is Martin Luther King, Jr., who is remembered in January, the month of his birth. King reshaped, not only conversations about race and justice, and the way to resist, peacefully, but also reshaped an entire nation. His clear and decisive call for justice in regard to race, and later to also include economics and war, is still inspiring and challenging at the same time. King’s legacy continues to call out to us to be better people, to love unconditionally, and to break down barriers of division that are human constructs. His dream for this world has yet to fully come to fruition, but we’re on our way despite the work that remains.

Taken together, these “royal” personas and persons call out to us see the possibility in the world. For some, the recent birth of a child who would one day transform all of creation is a sign of hope for the future. We don’t know if the Magi knew exactly what would transpire once that child grew up, but they had their hopes; why else would they have traveled so far? We too bring our gifts to the conversation, looking ahead at what can accomplished in this world, and making the effort to be a part of it ourselves.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s leadership is still a beacon of hope, not just among a particular community, and not just in our country, but around the world. His example as a servant leader, one whose primary goal was to bring about a greater good, even as it brought about his earthly demise, is something we can use more of in our world. Far too often those in power are corrupted by it, serving their interests or the interest of the few over the many. What a different world it would be if King’s dreams could be realized. Cynics might tell us we’re foolish for hoping such things, and yet this is the time we need such dreams and such foolishness.

Elvis’ contribution to all of this might be his lyric, “Wise men say, only fools rush in…” Wise men sought and still seek peace, justice, and look with hope to a better world that is still being transformed around us. Is that foolishness? Perhaps. In a month of doors and beginnings, perhaps we can agree to step through the doorways that present themselves, doors we’ve been shown by wiser men. Call me a fool, but I’d like to see what’s on the other side of those doors. It took those wise men a long time to find what they were looking for; I suppose we should keep looking too.