Epiphany
“Epiphany:
the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the
Magi.” Webster's On-line Dictionary
Today,
January 6, is Epiphany—the day Christians celebrate the coming of
the Magi to visit the baby Jesus and bring him gifts of gold,
frankincense and myrrh. According to the story, they had seen his
star rise and followed it to Jerusalem. These kings stopped at the
palace of Herod, to inquire as to where prophecy said the king of the
Jews would be born. They were directed to Bethlehem, nine miles away.
Herod instructed them to go and worship the child and then return to
give him word as to where they had found the babe so that he, too,
might pay homage. (Matthew 2:1-12)
In the Eastern Orthodox church, Jan. 6th is Christmas eve,
and Jan. 7, Christmas day. This difference is simply because they
use the Julian calendar, which is thirteen days different from the
Gregorian one that most of the West uses. Christmas day still falls
on the traditional Dec. 25th, which happens to be Jan. 7th in their calendar. This was an epiphany for me!
Epiphany
also means to suddenly understand something in a new way, or to grasp
the essential nature or meaning of something. Epiphanies happen when
we realize the truth of something, or when we make an illuminating
discovery. It is a turning toward the light, so that something can be
seen clearly. The Magi had their epiphany by way of a dream. They
suddenly realized that Herod did not want to worship his competition
for kingship, but intended to kill him. Because of their epiphany,
they “took a different road” home.
We
sometimes have epiphanies in our daily life, and in our spiritual
life. We arrive at the 'how' and 'why' of things, and suddenly, the
meaning of a particular event or relationship is illuminated. In the
Bible, it will be announced, “this happened in order that the
prophecy might be fulfilled,” when sometimes, there is no prophecy
at all. In our lives, we realize that someone has come along, or
some event has taken place that changes everything, and now we're on a
different road. One that we couldn't have imagined before.
This is a good day to think about the epiphanies in your own life. When
have you looked back and arrived at a different understanding of
events that have happened to you? When have you received information
that changed your whole idea of something you had taken for granted?
Little everyday epiphanies are the change agents of life.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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