Who doesn’t love a good story of wise people following stars to freedom!? My thoughts recently have been on Kings, the African American community and stars that led them to freedom. These thoughts are mixed with curiosity about our daughter and where she fits into the story, but before I begin, let me acknowledge that generally these ideas come from our two pastors. I modified and bulked up some of their ideas to suit my writing.

A few Sundays ago many churches focused on the story in scripture of the three kings. Ours did, too. Pastor Q, talked about this story and the larger story of the church. He named that as Christians we already know the ending of the narrative. To state it simply Jesus comes to save the cosmos. The end is already planned. In between the end and now though he encouraged us to help write the center part of history. It has yet to play out. Pick up your pens, he encouraged, and begin filling in the blanks. There is power in writing between the lines. There is power in proactively filling the gap between the here and there, the now and then. 

The three kings did exactly this. They took up their pens and they wrote part of the story between now and then. A very large part of their story had to do with following the star to where they found Jesus. They were either wise astronomers or astrologers. I barely know the difference between the two. Still, I love that these were learned men and astute about their surroundings. Our pastor continued. They were wise, knowledgeable ones from another culture, another language and likely another religion who were following the star to the babe who would give ultimate freedom.

(Here I take a deep breath. Let’s take a bit of a look at the word, “freedom.”I don’t usually use this word because North American views of  freedom are twisted. Freedom is so often conflated with individualism and mixed with teenage bad attitude vibes. Sometimes American talk of freedom can spiral into screeching for rights to do anything. The Anabaptist in me turns away from this mentality. When I speak of freedom I’m not referring to someone being able to say whatever they want to whomever they want in whatever tone they want. I’m not talking about freedom to go anywhere and do anything because we are American. When I speak of freedom, I’m speaking of something more along the lines of “what’s good for one is good for all.” If we are free in Jesus, then we’re free from hatred and vengefulness. True freedom means you are able to live into your fullest, gifted self and contribute to society in helpful ways. This might also look like freedom from addictions, freedom from abusive relationships, freedom from mental illness, from debt, etc. Healthy freedom makes a person whole and healthy. It allows them to add to the whole health of others and the community. And now, back to the post.)

After the sermon, the idea of freedom was picked up by Pastor C who is an African American woman. She commented that these men were smart, but they were humble enough to let God lead them in a certain direction. Originally, her people were also wise, knowledgeable ones from another culture, another language and likely another religion. Like the wisemen, they also let God lead them in a certain direction and they too followed the stars to freedom. The wise ones from scripture already had the freedom to practice their skills and gifts. They had the freedom to search for something deeper and they started out on their long journey watching the sky and looking for the babe. My pastor’s people already already knew this babe. They had had spiritual freedom, but they didn’t have freedom to practice their skills and gifts. They were looking for something deeper so they, like the wise men, set out on a long journey watching the sky and looking for freedom.

They all had the stars to follow. They all had determination. They all knew there was something more, something better, something deeper, but they didn’t know what they’d encounter between here and there, between now and then. Still, by being proactive, they were picking up their pens and they were writing between the lines. People in our society today continue living between these lines and thoughts of my daughter are mixed in with this grand story of wise ones following the stars to freedom.  How will she pick up her pen and write between the lines?

We attended a Martin Luther King day event put on by the local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) at our church. Our pastor was the keynote speaker. I wanted our daughter to watch her speaking again from the front. This time to a crowd that was much more vocal than Mennonites normally are. I wanted her to hear the songs and see the faces and feel the energy. I wanted her to soak in the atmosphere because these people have been on a long, long journey. They continue to write their story and continue to seek their freedom. They have a story of their people, like the wise men, following the stars to freedom. And still, the story continues. 

What does it take to gather courage and follow the stars to freedom? What does that look like for our children? I wonder how we get our children to navigate through this world with wonder, fear and courage as I suppose these wise ones did?  How do they find the star that leads them to the babe who gives freedom? How do they find their true north like the slaves did when they followed the stars to freedom?  Again, I don’t know the answer. 

I watch our own trusting little child. She is oblivious about her frizzy hair in the back. I see her toddling around careless about the wet diaper sagging down to her knees and I think to myself, “I have to teach her wisdom and resiliency!? Help!” Will she learn to watch the sky? Who knows. I can only offer up my humble mama prayer: God, help us teach our children to be wise, knowledgeable ones. Help us teach them to see the stars. Give signs that will direct them, lead them and guide them to true freedom where they can give their fullest selves and help others find true freedom.