Stardom is in the eye of the beholder. The other day at A&P I picked up The 100 Greatest Movie Stars of Our Time. It was a special collector's edition of "People" magazine. I liked this book but it was missing Matt Damon! He is definitely a star in my book. However, what is stardom? Stardom is performing in an outstanding manner.
From days of old, the Sun has shone as the central star of the solar system. There was even a Cult of the Sun. It was one of the last big nature religions. These followers glorified the sun as the source of life and the highest divine power. Their greatest feast day was the birth of the Sun in December. This day came in the last days of darkness, at the end of winter solstice.
This Cult of the Sun even caught Roman Emperors in its rays. The first Emperor to convert to Christianity was Emperor Constantine. He made Christianity the official religion of the Empire but it took time before it became universal. Christians had to transform Sun beliefs into Christian beliefs. They began by transforming that December day into the birth of the Son of God. Jesus became the spiritual Sun of Righteousness.
Christianity eventually displaced sun worship. Thus, Christianity took the theme of -the sun as light and life- to show Christ as the light & life of the world. Even today, the Orthodox Christians sing a hymn with images of sunlight, and stars:
Your birth, O Christ our God, has shown to the world the light of wisdom.
For by it, those who worshipped the stars were taught by a star to adore You,
The Sun of righteousness, and to know You, the Orient from on high.
As we can see, the feast of Christmas became the fulfillment of the feast of the sun. The central star of Orthodoxy and Christianity will forever be Jesus. He shines in our dark nights and bright days if we are looking for Him. The sun as the physical star of the natural world symbolizes the spiritual star of the Divine Sun. This winter season we are grateful for the birth of the physical sun and we invite you to glorify the coming of the Divine Sun into the world. Come to visit us so we can call you out of your visible and physical world into a spiritual and invisible world this Christmas. Our Christmas Eve Service is at 4:00 PM and Christmas Day at 9:30 AM. We are an American Orthodox Community with Russian & Greek spirituality located in Glen Gardner, NJ. The Orthodox tradition beckons your senses through scents, Heavenly music, and tasting of the Manna from heaven. It's an Ancient faith rooted in Holy Scripture and Tradition.
