On Epiphany we remember the revelation of God to the magi (or wisemen), foreigners from outside the faith.

They see a star in the sky, stop by the royal palace, find their way to a young Jesus, and are warned in a dream not to go back to King Herod.

Now they make their home in our nativity scenes and Christmas pageants.

And they have me thinking:
if God speaks to outsiders
and invites them to come near,
then perhaps God is less interested in drawing lines than we are.

And if God uses stars
and God uses dreams,
then perhaps we do not need to fear the night where these things reside.

Perhaps in the darkness
and while we sleep
and when it is silent
and when we don’t know where we are going,
God is still God.

Perhaps when it is cold
and we are far from comfortable
and cruel people plot
and we can’t go back the way we came,
God is still active.

Perhaps we can trust God
to be at work across the border
and in the wilderness
and in our messes
and when it is scary.

Perhaps we can trust God
to be at work for everyone
(even them)
(even us),
for the different
the excluded
the wrong.

And perhaps this really is good news.