Epiphany
2 Jan 2022
For the past two summers I have had the good fortune to find the dark. In much of the United State it is hard to find any place without light pollution. I live in the country, but neighbor’s security lights and even the glare from nearby Boone are enough to keep the night sky hidden. Even when I turn my own glaring security light off, the neighbor’s light obscures the stars.
In 2020 I went with a couple of friends for a mid-week getaway to Springbrook State Park near Guthrie Center. Not many people live in Guthrie County; it gets very dark at night, even with the fortunately minimalist lights in the campground. We almost had the campground to ourselves, giving us a chance to go to the smallish lake, sit along the banks, and watch Comet Neowise and all the summer constellations. You cannot see unless it is very dark.
This August of 2021 I was camping near Ely Minnesota. I walked out on the dock, which gave access to a very large lake, and my breath was taken away as I lay on my back looking up at millions and millions, if not billions, of stars. It was the height of a meteor shower and at times it seemed like the bright specs were headed straight for me. You cannot see unless it is very dark.
Darkness has a bad rap. Light supposedly means knowledge and understanding; something revealed. Darkness means ignorance and unknowing; something hidden. Yet the world of darkness reveals beauty and knowledge not seen with the coming of light.
And so it is with Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. In the northern hemisphere we live with increasing darkness and cold. It appears our Neolithic ancestors celebrated the winter solstice at Stonehenge as well as the summer one, perhaps with a large slaughtering of pigs. No one took the light for granted. It was good to know the light and warmth would return.
I like the dark of winter; it is a time for reading and introspection. A time for rest; a time when nature may be harsh, yet a time when humans can sit and tell stories. The darkness gives rise to our imagination. It seems that story telling may well have been born in the long, dark months of winter.
As Christians, we should not be afraid of walking in the dark, for it is that darkness that we hone many of our skills.
And now Epiphany arrives and greets us!! Does it matter if the narrative in Matthew is literally true? Not to me; the story is one of those deemed wise knowing that someone wiser than themselves came into the world and being wise enough to seek out that person, even though he was yet an infant. It does not have to be fact; it is, however, true.
So who were those Magi? We don’t know. How many? It doesn’t say. Where did they come from? The East, wherever that may have been.
They decided to follow a star, a heavenly sign. What made them leave their home to follow this sign? I think of the times I decided to do something because “it felt right.” Something inexplicable told me to do something foolish; not foolish in a personal way, like buying bitcoin or lottery tickets, but foolish in a holy way. There have been times I took the road less traveled. How about you? Are there times in your life you felt called to leave what seemed to be safety because you were being called by the holy one?
The light could be seen in the darkness. Wherever they turned the light was still there. There are times I have felt the light was not there; like a feeling of being lost in a dense and dark forest or the feeling that nothing mattered, that no one cared about you. I don’t know if you have had times like that; I suspect we all have. But when it seems that the light cannot be found, it somehow reappears. Maybe for us it is as simple as someone calling to ask how we are doing, or maybe something as powerful as realizing we are loved. Sometimes it is trusting the light is there even if you cannot find it.
They asked directions. Even with the light the way was not for them alone to know; we all need to know when to ask for help and know that others, too, have knowledge and wisdom. Have you ever tried to go it alone? Sometimes it works, but often it is a recipe for disaster. Try changing a flat tire on a cold and moonless night when the tire was secured with an air wrench. Roadside assistance is like a saving angel. I think we are all tasked with learning not only how to help, but to be willing to ask for help. I do not have within myself the power to save myself; we all need to trust in God and lean on one another.
They stuck together and travelled together. It is said it takes a village to raise a child; for someone to decide they do not need anyone else is a decision to, at the very least, be pitied. You listen to people who embark on a survival venture, and they talk about testing themselves. Well, that is ok. It is fine to learn skills and be self-confident, but life for humans is a communal venture. I feel saddened that the definition of who is in “our” community seems be more restrictive in the last decade. Sticking together at its best is sharing and celebrating each other’s abilities and enjoying each other’s company, not putting up a wall to keep everyone “not like us” out. What is your own definition of community and staying together?
They encountered King Herod. Herod was evil, ruthless, selfish. But that is not always easy to recognize. I have been drawn to people and values that I later realized were wrong; we all have. Some things that seem to be right simply are not; the magi did not recognize Herod for what he was, even with their collective wisdom; they were warned by others. Are we in a time where we are being drawn to authoritarianism? Put your evil ideas in just the right words and anything is possible. All of us have been blown off course in ways small and great. We can only hope that the clear message of God incarnate can shine through all the evil that humans perpetrate and that we can see it.
They bowed down and worshiped. When I pray, when I open my heart, I both thank God and let the light shine in. Prayer and worship are not laundry lists to be recited and actions to be done in rote, they are doors to let us open to the Holy and experience it. We give God thanks and praise; God gives us a glimpse of the divine and holds us. Do you take time to cultivate silence? How do you make space for God?
They gave gifts. Gold for a king, frankincense as a priestly incense, myrrh to embalm. What gifts do you bring? It is not just wealth; it is our time and our talents. So many talents!! We offer our lives and our labor and offer them at the Eucharist. We offer them to one another, to strangers. We offer with no expectation of reward or return. And do not say you do not have gifts to give; we all have so much. In O Henry’s the Gift of the Magi the woman cuts her hair to buy her lover a watch fob; he sells his watch to buy her a comb. Mutual self-giving; giving something precious. There is enough for all.
They were shown the truth and left by another route. Danger was revealed. How have you experienced revelation? Sometimes it is in a dream; sometimes in the wise words of a friend. It maybe in some ordinary way. Sometimes it comes in a life altering event. Lyndon Johnson did not become the author of and advocate for civil rights legislation until after he had a near death experience during his first heart attack.
We are the receivers of and the bringers of the light! I would like to think I am, in some way, a modern-day magus. Not that I am full of wisdom, but I am bathed in the light and I am willing to travel with others and ask questions.
May each day bring you light and life and may your own journey be guided by the star.
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