Many ESN writers this Christmas chose to explore the journey of the Wise Men, a great topic for Christian scholars. We pray for a rich celebration of Epiphany as the days of Christmas come to a close for this year, and for wisdom as you seek Christ throughout the year. A hymn to celebrate and encourage Christian academics in 2015:

As With Gladness Men of Old

As with gladness men of old
did the guiding star behold;
as with joy they hailed its light,
leading onward, beaming bright;
so, most gracious Lord, may we
evermore be led to thee.

As with joyful steps they sped,
Savior, to thy lowly bed,
there to bend the knee before
thee, whom heaven and earth adore;
so may we with willing feet
ever seek thy mercy seat.

As they offered gifts most rare
at thy manger, rude and bare,
so may we with holy joy,
pure and free from sin’s alloy,
all our costliest treasures bring,
Christ, to thee, our heavenly king.

Holy Jesus, every day
keep us in the narrow way;
and when earthly things are past,
bring our ransomed souls at last<
where they need no star to guide,
where no clouds thy glory hide.

– W. Chatterton Dix.

Text courtesy of Hymnary.org, http://www.hymnary.org/text/as_with_gladness_men_of_old

Image: Three Wise Men visit the baby Jesus, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54959 [retrieved January 5, 2015]. Original source: Olaer/Elmer Anthony’s images at http://www.flickr.com/photos/olaer/56844310/.