By Scott Shephard

Deb has been busy putting Christmas decorations up in our house and so, in spite of unusually warm temperatures and the lack of snow in our part of South Dakota, I am starting to feel the spirit of the season.

To be honest, I have been a little too wrapped up in current events, what with election recounts and COVID-19 occupying at least part of my conscious thoughts during many of my waking hours. So for today’s photo, I went looking for something that “was completely different,” as Rocky of “Rocky and Bullwinkle” fame often said.

A flower? A landscape? A granddaughter? All of those would be have been a good diversion. But instead I was somehow inspired to search my collection for photos I had taken on December 5 over the last 10 years. This one, of a seashell angel holding a beautiful swirling star, caught my attention. I took the picture in 2010.

I have always liked this ornament but today I am drawn to the star and pondering it’s meaning. In the Christmas story, it was literal in that it guided the 3 Wise Men to a humble manger near Bethlehem. But it was - and still is - much more than a shining star.

In December, 2020, as the days get shorter and the pandemic seems to be tightening its grip, we need to remind ourselves of that single, special star and the light and guidance it gave and the hope it promised:

“And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Matthew 2:9-11”