They saw a star shining in the East

Alfred "Pappy" Brunet
July 30, 2009
Joseph Henry Elkins
August 3, 2009
Alfred "Pappy" Brunet
July 30, 2009
Joseph Henry Elkins
August 3, 2009

They looked up and saw a star shining in the East beyond them afar. When Christ was born, a star shone bright in the sky, leading three Kings to the little town of Bethlehem and the baby Jesus. Some believe the story of the Christmas Star is a legend, developed over time as a symbol of God’s divine intervention, while other believe it’s Gospel – literally.


I have always considered myself to be a skeptic, and although I tell the story of the Christmas Star to my children, I remain skeptical. Was there actually a star that pointed the way to Bethlehem? It is likely the word of Jesus’ birth had more to do with leading people to Bethlehem than a star.


Even if people saw a great star in the sky, would they have known its meaning? Would we know the meaning of such a star if it shone today?

There are professionals who claim to be able to “read the stars.” They are called astrologers, and although many of them make a lot of money, I doubt they would know the meaning of the Christmas Star if they saw it.


To prove this, I checked my astrological reading, or horoscope, from the Associated Press’ leading astrologer – Minerva. I then crosschecked her reading with that of other leading astrologers.


Minerva claimed the stars are telling me that there is too much to do and not enough time to do it. “Get out of the way, and let it happen,” she wrote.

Astrologer Michael Thiessen saw a different message in the stars, warning, “Don’t let your partner get away with spending too much of your money.” I was about to confront my wife with what the stars were telling me until I read the next line, “It might be time for you to take a quantum leap from one career to another.” Since I have no intention of leaping to another career, I figured my wife might not be spending too much of my money.

Rather than having me leap to another career, astrologer Jonathan Cainer said the stars are telling him I’m planning to get a “better deal” by being manipulative.

“You feel as if you ought to be able to fight for a better deal by being stubborn, determined or perhaps even a little manipulative,” wrote Cainer “The effort to attain such progress probably will be successful – but only at a price. That price may not be worth paying.”

Cainer could be right. Maybe the price is not worth it because my wife is spending all of my money.

After these readings and those of four other astrologers, I am convinced that God could place a bright star in the sky today and it would be like hieroglyphs to these astrologers.

Maybe things were different for the three wise men … maybe they had a Rosetta Stone.