They knew the sky like the back of their hands

This was my opening piece for ikon's "Adventure" (Dec 09)

They knew the sky like the back of their hands; the constellations, the familiar patterns, suddenly disrupted by a lonely moving star. As they travelled from the east, it was such little light as their hope that the Magi followed. Perhaps these characters didn’t know what to expect, but something enough happened that they left their homes and took to the long road. They walked towards a reason to celebrate, not knowing if they would find anything. Advent marks the beginning of the liturgical calendar, and encourages a spirit of expectation, of anticipation, of preparation, of longing. Pope Benedict, last week, said to his congregation that “Hope signals the path for humanity”. As hope helps us walk this path towards reason to celebrate, we can be thankful for it regardless of whether or not we can find where Christ is born this year, or whether or not Christ is born at all. One way or another, we long for the incarnation of love and for a disruption to so many familiar patterns. And if that is you – if you need hope or have it – welcome to ikon.