After Epiphany

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it…. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1.

We have entered the Church Season of “After Epiphany.”

After…Epiphany…It is hard not to ask, is there such a thing?

The Light manifests itself in Flesh. That we want to experience and celebrate. We gather around the manger to bask in the Light of the newborn babe. We light our candles; we give gifts; we feast and sing.

But After…

We go back to our daily lives and all appears the same. Brokenness, pain, cruelty, and devastation…not just for the ones who have chosen the darkness, but for us and for our brothers and sisters in Christ, close by and in the far off places that we often think little of until there is unimaginable death and destruction.

Yes, “the Word became flesh and we have seen his glory.” But like the Magi, do we just return home, forced to journey through the same desert again, even if by a different route?

And so we ask, how do we live in the After?


The prophet Isaiah promises that when the light has come and the glory of the Lord has dawned … “The sun will no more be your light by day; by night you will not need the brightness of the moon.”

Have we experienced the Light and then just gone back to the sun rather than the Son to guide us? And what would this Son say? How would he tell us to live?

That is the beauty of the Church Year. It does not leave us with a few moments of Epiphany but continues to lead us by the Son. We see the manifestation and the epiphany does not stop.

There is baptism, a dove appears and a voice from the heavens . (The First Week After Epiphany)


There are miracles. Water turned to wine. Divinity revealed again. (The Second Week After Epiphany)


There are proclamations. “The Spirit of the Lord is Upon Me.” “He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.” “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (The Third Week after Epiphany)


And people begin to choose. (The Fourth Week after Epiphany)


People begin to follow. Laying down their work, setting it all aside to walk with the Light. (The Fifth Week After Epiphany)


And then, the dazzling light, the glory revealed. Transfiguration. (The Last Week After Epiphany)

No, we do not stop at Epiphany. Advent, Christmas, Epiphany are not enough. We continue to light our candles and sing and pray though perhaps more quietly and, hopefully, more fervently.

We continue on into the After.

It is a journey that we know will, indeed, lead us into the desert and into suffering and death. But it will be a journey in the light of the Epiphany. A journey that leads us to Resurrection.

Any more thoughts on how you experience this time After Epiphany? How do you return to daily life after seeing the Great Light?


Thank you, readers, for the blessing you are to me. Your comments and emails have been so kind.
“In Him was the life and the life was the Light of men.” May you hold on to the Life and Light today.



















Images public domain. Found at Christmas Paintings and Artwork -- Annunciation, Shepherds, Madonna and Child, St. Joseph
http://www.joyfulheart.com/christmas/tissot-christmas-childhood.htm

Celebrating Epiphany as a Family

The Feast of Epiphany brings the season of Christmas to a close with light and hope unlike the secular end of Christmas of shopping, gift return, and back to work. 

Epiphany comes from the Greek translated as “manifestation” or “appearing.” It is a celebration of the appearance of God in the flesh also made manifest in the light of a star.  Setting aside a separate day gives us much more time to reflect on what Christ’s manifestation means for our lives and to look for how He has manifested himself to us. The Magi’s journey from many different lands also reminds us that Christ came for all the earth. The early church also commemorated on this day all of Christ’s early manifestations as God: the Magi’s worship of a baby king, Jesus’ first miracle at the wedding of Cana, and his Baptism.


In some cultures, Epiphany is still the principle day to celebrate Christ’s Incarnation and is the day for gift giving. I love that all that we are to learn from Christ’s Nativity is not wrapped up into one day on the 25^th but we have 12 which culminates in a reminder of Jesus’ kingship and deity. 


Celebrating Epiphany has also been special since it is a day without the pressure and obligations. Here are some of our traditions for Epiphany: 

·         The children have made and decorated crowns or colored pictures of the Epiphany

·         We have a special multi-course meal with Scripture read between courses (Isaiah 60:1-6 , Ephesians 3:1-12 ,Matthew 2:1-12 ,Psalm 72:1-7,10-14),

·         We eat a King’s Cake though ours is usually just a box cake cooked in a Bundt pan to look like a crown, decorated with white icing and decorated with gum drops for jewels by the children. Inside the cake is hidden money and the finders get to dress as one of the Wise Men for our procession.

 

Epiphany 2008

·         We then have the Parade of Kings. The children dress up as royalty and we parade around singing, “Oh, Come Let us Adore Him…” Then we gather around the crèche and follow this liturgy from this site:

All stand or kneel behind the kings, around some designation of Christ: a crib, cross, or perhaps simply facing east or looking out the window at the stars.

·         King I: We have seen His star in the east, and have come with gifts to adore the Lord.

·         Reader: Give to the Lord, you families of nations, Give to the Lord glory and praise; Give to the Lord the glory due his name! Bring gifts, and enter his courts; Worship the Lord in holy attire. Tremble before him, all the earth; Say among the nations: the Lord is king. He has made the world firm, not to be moved; He governs the peoples with equity.

·         King II: We have seen His star in the east, and have come with gifts to adore the Lord.

·         Reader: Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea and what fills it resound; Let the plains be joyful and all that is in them! Then shall all the trees of the forest exult before the Lord, for he comes; For he comes to rule the earth. He shall rule the world with justice, And the peoples with his constancy.

·         King III: We have seen His star in the east, and have come with gifts to adore the Lord.

·         Reader: From the Collect of the Epiphany:

O God, by the leading of a star you manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth: Lead us, who know you now by faith, to your presence, where we may see your glory face to face; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Epiphany 2009

If it has been a long night we then close with a brief house blessing which Kerry provides at A Ten O’Clock Scholar but many years we have followed the Service from Book of Occasional Services which Jeanne of At A Hen’s Pace describes well. We go from room to room to pray:

·         Living Room—that our home will be a hospitable place and glorify God as we talk and enjoy company

·         Dining Room/Kitchen—for provision, for stewardship, for health

·         Children’s bedrooms—for their safety, for their future, etc.

·         Parent’s bedroom—that we will be bound in love, blessings and protection of the marriage bed

·         Bathrooms—that we will be free from vanity, have proper respect for our bodies, be clean inwardly as well as outwardly

·         Schoolroom/Study-that our work would glorify God, that it would be done with proper motives, that we would grow in wisdom.

The Children awake to a special present each year and I can’t wait to show you pictures of our new addition this year! And then Christmas is over: the crèche, ornaments, Christmas books and music are packed away and we enter into a new season of the church. We do not leave the babe at the manger but continue to follow his footsteps throughout the year.

Reflections at Epiphany 2010

Arise, shine; for your light has come,

and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.

After 12 days of Christmas--the celebration, the let down, the memories, the exhaustion, the joys, the disappointments--I need Epiphany each year. The words of the prophet Isaiah (60:1-6) pierce my soul.

For darkness shall cover the earth,

and thick darkness the peoples;

Epiphany acknowledges the darkness of the world around us. For me, a  grandfather (in-law)in his last  days, the lack of will to start a new semester and get back into a new routine, a husband home sick in bed, the emotional exhaustion of the holiday season.

but the LORD will arise upon you,

and his glory will appear over you.

Yes, I need Epiphany each year. A reminder that above all our circumstances Christ’s birth arises as a light to the world.

Nations shall come to your light,

and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

Lift up your eyes and look around;

they all gather together, they come to you;

your sons shall come from far away,

and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses' arms.

               A Light which draws the searching to its brightness. As kings and camels, children and infants              gather, they carry me with them.

Then you shall see and be radiant;

your heart shall thrill and rejoice,

And I rejoice.

because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you,

the wealth of the nations shall come to you.

A multitude of camels shall cover you,

the young camels of Midian and Ephah;

all those from Sheba shall come.

They shall bring gold and frankincense,

and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD.

May we all proclaim the praise of the Lord this day.