:  We often see the Wise Men joining the rest of the traditional nativity scene characters in the Christmas story, yet the wise men arrive likely when Jesus was no longer a baby but a child.  The Wise Men went to worship the King of the Jews.  They are an interesting piece to our story.  In them we find a place of returning, but returning a different way.  Thanks to a warning in a dream, the magi return a different way in order to not have to speak to Herod again.  In their returning a different way, we seek to return from our journey of Advent and Christmas a different way too.  We seek to enter the new year transformed by the birth of our Savior, longing for what God longs for, waiting as a spiritual practice, finding the extravagant amongst the simple, living from a position of humility, and sharing how our Savior changes us.  This is how we return.

Scripture - Matthew 2:1-12