Training to See Stars

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage."
Matthew 2:1-2

It may have been a long course of study over years
books and lectures and experimentation and dissertations
or perhaps it was a week-long seminar at the Hilton in
the ballroom with Iranian style carpet and crystal chandeliers

I suppose it could have been a drugstore pamphlet
picked up on the way to some other happening but
I’m guessing it was more like jiu-jitsu and grappling
and training on the ground with slow accreditation

but somehow those magi were trained to see the light
and when the light came and no one else comprehended
they were ready and wide-eyed, awestruck and epiphanied
caught up in the journey of life on the holy unmapped road

and you and I, what training, what discipline and diligence
have we done when we look at the sky in longing and wonder
or in each other’s eyes wanting and groping for some twinkling
some swirling Van Gogh star of divine guidance for the passage