Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-01-11
FOLLOWING HIS STAR.
Lesson of the Wise Men Who Came
to the Bethlehem Manger
TO WORSHIP THE INFANT KING.
II Was Not Mission of Gain. but Of Sub.
lime Unselfishness.
WHAT THEY SAW IN TIE HEAVENS
WRITTEN FOR THE DIspArcH.I

we have seen his star In the east, ana
we are come to worship him." They saw,
they came, they worshiped; and then they
went away again into their own land, Ieav-
ing behind them the memory of their good
example.
One good thing about these "wise men"
the right way. Everybody saw the star. You
cannothide star. But great many people
who saw it didn see it-did not see it in
the right way, did not recognize it. For
real sight is not the reflection of an object in
the eve. but rather the sort of reflection that
goes on in the mind behind the eye. 1t is
the mind that sees. The eye is only an optical
instrument which the mind uses. Every
body saw the star-with their eyes. But
out OF all the world, only this little company
Of wise men seem to have seen the star with
their minds.
How they came to be different from other
men, and to recognize the star, we know not.
Perhaps there was some dim tradition in
their country, handed down from the days
Of Balaam, about star and a sceptre.
Some think that Balaam was "wise man"
one of the magi, past master in the astrolo-
gical fraternity. And that Balaam, off
there in the east, did say something about a
star of Jacob and sceptre of Israel, is plain
enough. Perhaps there were more devout
Jews in their neighborhood, who had told
the wise men about the old prophecies, and
so given them a sort of preparation for read
ing the gospel in the stars
What Astronomers Say.
Perhaps, and perhaps The truth is, we
know nothing about it. None of the e1-
plantations begin to explain it. There was
star. The wise men who study the sky in
our own day will tell us that. Every 800
years, three great planets meet within the
boundaries of a single constellation. And
their meeting is a sight which everybody
who has eyes looks at We will never see
it with our eyes for the last meeting was in
the winter of the year 1903. But the wise
men saw il. They saw it two years before
the date which is agreed upon for the birth
of Christ If they looked up into the sky in
May, or October, or December of that year,
they could not miss it.
Three times that year, Saturn, Mars and
Jupiter stood together in the constellation
Piscis. And in 1903, when Kepler saw
that sight, fourth star, bright, glowing,
peculiarly colored and evanescent, Joined
the siderial company. There was a star,
and the wise men saw it, and they said one
to another, there is the Kings star; He is
born in the West" and they came and wor-
SHIPPED Him. And that is all OF the story
that we know.
The truth of God shines in this world as
clear as the everlasting stars. And we all
see it-witb our eyes, and hear it-with our
ears. But grea. many of us somehow
miss Of the recognition of it. And those
who do recognize the truth are very often
quite unable to tell US why or how they
know it. There is a great difference be-
tween their seeing and our seeing. Certain
phrases seem to mean a whole world more
to them than they do to us. But there does
not appear to be any adequate explanation.
We are as much in the dark about it as we
are about the wise men. But it is a fact.
They DO see-and We don't see.
ARace of Blind Men.
"The wind bloweth where it lIsteth, and
thou nearest the sound thereof, but canst
not tell whence it cometh or wither it goeth:
so is everyone that is born of the spirit. :"
be born of the spirit OF God, are very mnch
the same thing. What difference in peo-
pie, in their perceptions - intellectual,
aesthetic, spiritual! How many, having
ewes, see not, and having ears, hear noti Up
above, the star, and down below, whole
race of blind menl Here, close before us
all, the truth OF Goo, "and few there be that
find it."
q Few there be, perhaps, that really try to
find il, that would account for it. The wise
man tried; we maybe sure of. That they
were honest men, and earnest men, desirous
of truth. keeping their hearts and minds
open to it. We know all that about them,
because they found the truth. God never
tells His truth to any other sort of men.
But to such men always.
We want to know the truth OF God. If
there are any remarkable stars up there in
the sky, we want to see them. God is our
Father. The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son,
cleanseth us from all sin. Is that really
true? Is it true for you? Follow the best
religious light you have; and you will learn
whether it is true or not. Why, those wise
men were but pagans, and yet God spoke to
them. Make the most Of all the truths you
know; do the will OF God, as you understand
it, fully as you eau; put yourself within
reach OF all the uplifting, spiritual inhu-
ences which ycu can find; pray God for
light. And God will give you light. You
will be like the wise men-you Will see.
Seeing Is Not All.
Another good thing about the wise men
was that when they saw they did not stop
there. They did something. They came
Nobody knows just where they came from.
From Arabia most scholars think. Anyhow,
from some long distance, over hard and
dangerous wav; two-years' journey, some
figure it. They must have been very sure
before they started out on such an adventur-
Gus quest us that.
Faith and works always 60 together.
Faith is never unfruitful. If there are no
1f - ,.~s@ r.
versation something is the matter with the
mans spirit. There is only one way to be
sure that man has faith, and that is the
way by which we discover that field has
been planted. The harvest shows it. No
harvest, no seed; or no good soil for seed.
. No works, no faith. The man who sees the
star separates himself at once from the COM
pany OF blind men and proceeds to do some-
thing. And you know that he has seen the
star by the testimony of his deed. Whoever
saw that star and sat still did not see it, ex-
cept with the eve.
You can always tell the good Christians,
the men and women who have seen the star.
They are at work. They are not dIsobed-
lent to the heavenly vision. They are doing
something. People took note of the dis
ciples that they had been with Jesus. They
knew that BY the behavior of the disciples.
Whoever knows Christ, as the example OF
our daily lite, as the Savior from the burden
of our sins, as the mani estation of the love
of God, OF the nature of God, cannot sit
down idly as if he had seen nothing. He
must follow Christ, as the wise men iol-
lowed the star.
The Whole World Sneered.
The wise men followed the star alone out
of alAArabia. None else Joined their COM
pany. Among all the star-gazers these only