356 Memoirs of Eddie H. Christ, Jesus' Little Brother: Star of the Show

The Star of Bethlehem—explosion or implosion?

Hell, a supernova gives you both. After it blows, you’ve got a dead star when the dust settles. But then Jesus said that while this was happening, all kinds of fusion reactions happened between the hydrogen and helium. Denser atoms forged as the star collapsed, everything smushing together, so that when the explosion happened, all this denser debris cast off, and all the new heavier elements were strewn throughout the universe.

“Which is lucky for us,” he had explained, although luck had nothing to do with it. It had all been a setup from the beginning!

Luck: if...

• ...we were lucky enough to see another bunch of hydrogen come together to form another star somewhere, and...
• ...we were lucky enough to have a lot of the heavier elements floating around as background pollution from the death of other stars, and...
• ...we were lucky enough to have the size of the new star such that it didn’t burn out too fast, and...
• ...we were lucky enough to have an accumulation of all those heavier elements fall together and then settle into an orbit that’s neither too close nor too far away from this star, then...

...all of these elements may find their way into shapes and physiologies that are intelligent enough to wonder where the hell we all came from.

Jesus said, “None of us came from around here. We’re all children from another star.” (Probably from a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.)

So Jesus was made of the same star stuff we were all made of.

A star’s death, a supernova, was the only type of star that could've suddenly appeared one night like a beacon. But a star’s contribution didn’t end there. This was no more of an astronomical closure than the arrival of a Messiah is a religious closure after a long wait in Limbo. They’re both bridges. They’re both a way of sorts.

If the birth of a Messiah represented a progression of the hopes of those who search for the meaning of life, it’s only fitting that a star is what guided wise men to their goal.

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AUTHOR'S NOTES:

For Saturday, December 20, Day 356 of the 2024 Story-a-Day Challenge.

366 WORDS (without A/N)

ONLY A FORTNIGHT TO GO! THE STORIES KEEP COMING LIKE BURNING OUT LEDS ON A CHRISTMAS TREE IN THIS 2024 STORY-A-DAY VOCAL CHALLENGE.

There are currently 3 holly-jolly Vocal writers in this 2024 Story-a-Day Challenge:

• L.C. (Under the mistletoe) Schäfer

• Rachel (Walking with twinkletoe) Deeming

• Gerard (Under the cameltoe) DiLeo

AMONG THEM THIS YEAR, VOCAL HAS ADDED OVER A THOUSAND(!) UNIQUE, NEW STORIES. NOT TOO SHABBY!