Stars To Guide Us

Do your parents have a story about you running off some time they didn’t expect you to? Mine do. It’s one of those stories I’ve been told so many times that I’m not sure which parts I remember and which parts my brain is just filling in the gaps on. We were at Sears. You remember Sears? I was only two, my little brother was a little baby in the stroller, and we were out shopping. My parents aren’t sure what I was after, but I wandered away from them and ended up at the bottom of an escalator that was unfortunately going down – not up. As you might expect, I tripped, landed on my face and had to get some stiches on my lip.

This kind of stuff can happen so quickly, right? A kid gets curious while their parents are distracted and then it’s “Oh no, where did they go?” Which is probably close to what Mary and Joseph said when they realized that their son Jesus had wandered off during their visit to Jerusalem. Sometimes we adultify Jesus in this story, but it does say he was twelve. Do you know any twelve-year-olds? Jesus was about their size. Last week we sang about Jesus being a tiny baby in the manger. Jesus was 12 once too. Jesus grew up just like we do, because that’s part of being fully human. If we take this idea seriously, he had a growing human brain as a part of that growing human body.

At 12 years old, the human brain is changing. Twelve-year-olds are growing their personal sense of identity. That’s why preteens tend to distance themselves from their parents. It’s just science. These are the years when we develop our personality, our morals, and deal with more complex emotions. Our decision-making skills are still under construction, so wandering off is totally normal 12-year-old behavior. Maybe like other children, Jesus was curious and forgot that someone might be worried about him. Perhaps this was one of his first big moments being on his own.

His family had come to the temple together, with a big group of relatives and friends. It was safer to travel in numbers, and probably more fun too. The week of Passover is a holy time, but it’s also a celebration of freedom. This story makes me think of a big family vacation. Your cousins feel more like your siblings. You’re supervised, but by your aunts and uncles. Mary and Joseph had a village, and they assumed Jesus was with them, maybe just out running around with the rest of his cousins. The problem is that when everyone else left, Jesus didn’t. By the time they realized it and got back to him, it was three days later. They found him in the Temple, listening to the teachers there, asking them questions, and astonishing them with his own answers. He called it his father’s house.

I imagine that the 12-year-old Jesus thrived in the Temple for those three days. I picture him staying fed by eating whatever food was out in honor of Passover. Maybe there were trays of bread and sweets available. He must have slept at some point, perhaps right on the temple steps under the stars. I wonder if the divine within him recognized that sacred place. I wonder if his spirit leapt, and if he felt right at home there. I wonder if it drew him in, like a magnetic force he couldn’t fully understand until his wisdom grew more. His parents were distressed, but Jesus was in no distress at all. He seems like he was right at home, a deep kind of knowing that he belonged there. Perhaps this was an experience that helped him to know who he was.

Sometimes when we wander, it isn’t a bad thing. Sometimes wandering takes us right to where we need to be. Like the Magi, we are journeying through life without knowing our destination, but there are stars that guide our way. Have you ever accidentally wandered into something good? Or come across someplace you didn’t even know you were missing? I wonder what guidance you have been following. I wonder what vague sensations, or vivid dreams, or passed on wisdom have helped you to decide which way to go?

I have been lost plenty of times. Not only do I literally have a terrible sense of direction, but if you think I got here by walking confidently from point A to point B, you would be horribly mistaken. My life journey looks like a squiggly line. I have wandered my way to where I am, mostly not knowing exactly where I would end up. All the side quests, the experiments, and the lost times are what have made me wiser. All the temporary homes and the holy sanctuaries that I found along the way have helped me to figure out who I am.

I think following God is less about staying on the “right path,” and more about following the right stars. You might meander in all kinds of ways that are unique to you, but all of it will have lessons and meaning to share. Wandering is not always a bad thing, sometimes it’s God pulling us off the path. As our brains are growing daily, so too is our sense of self and our relationship with God that deepens with each step we take and passing year. Follow the light that is calling to you. Be curious and discover what’s out there. Go to places that make you feel awe and wonder on your journey, for we are following the stars God made for us, making our way to unknown destinations, but we never go alone. Amen.

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