At Christmas time in the Peanuts cartoon, Linus tells Sally the Christmas story.  He begins, “There were three wise men, see...”  Then in the next frame he says, “They came from the East and they were looking for Bethlehem.”  Sally is listening intently and Linus is really getting into the story.  “You know how they found Bethlehem?  They followed the star!”  In the final frame, Sally asks the question, “Who was the star?”

That’s a rather accurate commentary on an age that is preoccupied with stars -- not the kind of stars that glimmer in the sky -- not the kind of star that plays a prominent role in the Christmas story, but the baseball “star” who signs a $30 million contract -- or the pop “stars” who live in a world of glitz and glamour and call us to live in a fantasy world that will never be ours.

No wonder Sally, not knowing the Christmas story Linus is telling, asks, “Who was the star?”

There are those who know.  The star of Bethlehem is Christ.  You will miss Christmas if you miss that.