Are you familiar with Orion?  One of the most visible winter constellations, Orion tells a tale of greatness, of power and ambition, a story of quest and journey, a picture of humanity wrestling with itself and the gods.  The mightiest hunter ever to stride across the earth, Orion wandered the globe at will, killing any animals he wished, doing it all, he insisted, to honor the gods.  For one of the gods, Gaia, Mother Earth, however, this was too much:  she did not wish to see her animals, her offspring, perish at the hands of a mere mortal.  So she sent a scorpion after Orion, a scorpion equal to him in stealth and potency.  Bitten by the scorpion, the mighty hunter succumbed.  Seeing this, however, Zeus, the erstwhile "king" of the gods, took steps to honor this magnificent creation, setting him in the sky for
eternity.
     So we see Orion today.  As I continue to ponder the advent of winter and the Christmas celebration two days hence, I think about Orion.  I think about the legends and longing he represents, I think about the hold his stars exercise on our imaginations.  I think about how the Bible speaks so beautifully of the order and rhythms of the universe, and how these rhythms will continue until the cosmos takes its last breath.  And I give thanks for the wonder of story, one of our most gratifying experiences of humanness.
     Like Orion, we live as a story, a story of space, a story of time, a story of life in a world made by God.  Unlike Orion--and happily so--we can live this story forever.
     That's the beauty of the incarnation:  God's story, God's Orion:  God with us.
     Have a wonderful Christmas!