Variety: Matthew 2v1-2

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’ (Matthew 2v1-2)

Religious historian Diana Butler Bass invites readers to take a clear-eyed look at the world around us and how we participate in its healing or harm: 
Right now, we think it is hard to look at the world. It is difficult to watch the news, open social media, read a newspaper. All that division and anger and confusion and suffering and fear and pain. Authoritarianism, injustice, mass murder, starvation, war, genocide … every single day I fear what I may see. 
But if being a follower of Christ invites us to be Christ’s hands and feet, are we not also Christ’s eyes?
What does God see when God looks at the world?
Certainly, God sees sin, sorrow, the shame, the pity, the terror, and the sheer horror of it all. The pathos of the world….
God sees beyond, through, and past the covering of the fig leaves. God sees creation “without deceit.” God beholds the world as it really is, a beloved community, a feast of abundance, sparkling in the light and glory of love.
And God invites us to see that goodness also—with our own eyes. To see differently, looking beyond, under, through, and past the shadows.

There are some among us who see the world—those prophets, saints, and heroes we admire—the visionaries in history and the rare ones in our midst. People like Martin Luther King Jr., a follower, a dreamer, a man with vision.
When they ask us to come and see, many respond. And then we go and do. Come and see. Go and do likewise.
But seeing isn’t only for visionaries. Every person called to follow is called, first and foremost, to come and see. The Light dwells with all of us, opening our eyes. The Light widens the circle of welcome. We are all seers. The Light beckons: Come and see.

The Wise Men awaited a sign in the sky—a star—to guide them on this journey. Revelations break in, signs appear in dreams, light shines forth, and glory hovers all around. Such things are from the realms of miracle, awe, and wonder. They surprise and disrupt the normal course of existence. Epiphanies are not of our making.
But it would be a mistake to believe that we are only passive recipients of epiphanies. We need to be alert for their arrival…. Revelations can be missed if one isn’t attentive or attuned to the possibilities of sacred surprise….
We cannot create epiphanies, but, like the Wise Men, we can respond to them. Epiphanies grab a hold of us; we can’t shake them. Epiphanies beckon. The star invites; it calls to the attentive to do something—to act.