Gary Coker

June and I, along with ‘lots’ of other people, gathered atop the mountain where the University of the South is located in anticipation of seeing the so-called “Christmas Star”. Astrologists had told us the planets Jupiter and Saturn would align forming what would appear to be one giant star illuminating from the sky.
As the crowd sat on blankets and stood beneath the large Cross that adorns the mountain there was an array of theories as to how long since the two planets had aligned in such a manner and how long before this phenomenon would occur again. In addition to the stars’ alignment the sunset was in full blaze. If this wasn’t enough, a quarter moon was also visible to the eye, all three events occurring at the same time. The conversations from those in attendance ran the gambit with very little reference to creation or the creator. In jest I turned to the couple standing next to me and said: “the last people to witness such an event were the wise men in Bethlehem”.
They looked at me as if I had leprosy……… “do you see what I see”?
Sometimes I am haunted by the differences in our society and how people ‘see’ things. I am convinced that many of the people observing this planet alignment saw totally different things. Thus, one person can say ‘it’s a miracle”, while another says “it’s a coincidence.”
For you see, what we see and what we hear in life depends not upon the events but rather who we are as people. It’s not what is out there but what is inside of us.
Let me ask you a question. Ask yourself what you hear this Christmas. Do you hear the Christmas carols? When you watch the 6:00 news do you see chaos and strife, or do you see people without a Shepherd? Do you see people dreading Christmas because it accentuates their loneliness? In the midst of the sounds of honking horns and people rushing for parking spots do you also hear the sound of laughter?
It is my opinion that I must hear the cry from the lonely and I must see sheep without a shepherd. I want to see the events that took place in Bethlehem that night. If I lack the spiritual seeing and hearing then I would have been with the 99 percent who were present but who saw or heard nothing out of the ordinary.