God is not in the palace

One thing struck me about yesterday's Feast of the Epiphany. God is not in the palace. Jesus was not born in a palace.
The wise men from the orient, those men who were attentive to "signs", knew that a great man was born. The wise men saw the sign, a great star, and as they consulted and enquired, they confirmed that, indeed, an infant king was born.
Naturally they went to Herod's palace, the most normal place for a king to be born in. Of course, they did not find what they were looking for in that place.
As the wise men continued their journey, the star they were following reappeared once they left Herod's place, and the star led them to the place where the Christ-child was.
God is beyond our control. His ways and His choices are infinitely surprising. We need to continue to search and to be ready to be surprised, to meet God is the most unusual places. After all, Jesus was not born in a palace.

Change

The thing about wanting to control everything is that it is only an illusion. It will never happen. So to invest all our energies and time on it is like wanting to catch a whirlwind.
The only thing we have control over is our self. Yet, how many people do take this seriously? So they spend their time trying to arrange and re-arrange everything outside of them in order to create the perfect world, the perfect relationship, the perfect job, the perfect situation. Some of them end up disillusioned and skeptical. Some of them become controlled by "control". Some of them compromise, begging or bargaining to appease the void that is within, but until when?
The real key to change is "to let the change begin in me".