The poet U. A. Fanthorpe pictures the shepherds and the Magi – those familiar visitors to the infant Jesus – walking “haphazard by starlight straight/Into the kingdom of heaven”:
This was the moment when Before
Turned into After, and the future’s
Uninvented timekeepers presented arms.This was the moment when nothing
Happened. Only dull peace
Sprawled boringly over the earth.This was the moment when even energetic Romans
Could find nothing better to do
Than counting heads in remote provinces.And this was the moment
When a few farm workers and three
Members of an obscure Persian sect
Walked haphazard by starlight straight
Into the kingdom of heaven.U. A. Fanthorpe, “BC:AD”
I am convinced that most of us stumble into the reign of God, not because of our sterling virtue or our skill in prayer, but in spite of ourselves,
Sandro Botticelli, "The Mystical Nativity" (detail showing an angel pointing out the Christ child to the shepherds), National Gallery, London
thanks to a loving guidance of which we may be totally unaware. And sometimes where we find ourselves – what turns out to be filled with grace and glory – is not at all what we would have expected.
You might enjoy listening to Paul Simon’s song “Graceland,” which is ostensibly about a trip to Elvis Presley’s house in Memphis. As the song goes on, however, one realizes that it is really about something far bigger and infinitely deeper. Here is one verse:
There is a girl in New York City,
Who calls herself the human trampoline,
And sometimes when I’m falling flying
Or tumbling in turmoil I say
Whoa, so this is what she means,
She means we’re bouncing into Graceland…
The shepherds and the Magi “walked haphazard” or bounced into Graceland. And so do we bounce — usually awkwardly — into the glory of God where we are expected, longed for, and welcomed.
In the words of Paul Simon:
Maybe I’ve a reason to believe
We all will be received
In Graceland