Tag: epiphany

Epiphany Moments

Traditionally, January 6 marks the Feast of “Epiphany,” when three kings, or Magi, arrived in Bethlehem and paid homage to the Christ child with their mysterious gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  The word “epiphany” means a “sudden manifestation of the divine in the ordinary” and has grown in popularity these days to mean a sudden realization or enlightenment. It’s like a flash of mystical insight when there is no doubt, even for a few seconds, that a loving God exists. Obviously, these moments are fleeting. As soon as an epiphany happens, the flash is gone like a sunset and no amount of alchemy can conjure it up again.

I have had many epiphany moments in my life, some bigger than others. Most of the time, these flashes of insight are so subtle, they disappear into the mist of forgotten memories. This past year, in aid of my aging monkey mind, I kept track of epiphanies using quotes from books, friends, and other notable sources, in a special log called a “commonplace book.”  Re-reading these entries has been most epiphanous! (I think I just made up a word!) Anyway, I highly recommend this process.

Here are some of the quotes that have resonated, inspired, and enlightened:

  • Every sadness brings its own recompense.
  • After relief comes grief.
  • Ask for what you want, then notice what happens.
  • If we can lean on each other, we can bear anything, anything at all.
  • You will feel love when the sun shines on your face.
  • Believe what you love.
  • Theopoetics is the language of religion.
  • Keep moving.
  • Without mythology, you have pathology.
  • Joy is resistance.
  • Christianity is not a rational religion. It is a logic of love and love has its own logic.
  • We’re all born with the greatest treasures we’ll ever have in life.
  • You will die with a broken heart. That’s what lovers do.
  • The aging process turns us all into monks and that, indeed, is its plan.
  • It’s a huge mistake to read the signs of aging as indications of dying rather than as initiations into another way of life.
  • When you are a writer, all that matters is the story within.
  • I’m not going back.
  • I’m not going to give up.

May you be open to the many splendid epiphanies all around you.

Friends on Twelfth Night

“O star of wonder, star of light, star with royal beauty bright,
westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect light.”

The Twelve Days of Christmas are officially over today.  While I always feel a little sad about ending the season, I have had so many wonderful celebrations and illuminated moments this year! Besides seeing “The Nutcracker,” “A Christmas Carol,” and three magical Christmas concerts, I had fabulous family celebrations, Christmas teas with friends, and adventures looking at lights. Then, to mark the end of the Christmas season, a group of faith-filled friends gathered  last evening to celebrate Twelfth Night and the Epiphany, sometimes referred to as “Little Christmas.”

Seventeen of us gathered at a cozy home, still beautifully decorated and lit for Christmas with a magnificent tree, creche, and evergreen boughs.  We intentionally entered into a familiar final Christmas celebration focused on the story of three “kings” who make a long journey, following a star. We proclaimed readings from the Gospel of Matthew, T.S.Eliot’s “The Journey of the Magi” and Jan Richardson’s “Wise Women Also Came.” Then we held a special ritual for Epiphany written by my dear friend, Tessa Bielecki from her book SEASON OF GLAD SONGS: A CHRISTMAS ANTHOLOGY. 

We sang “We Three Kings,” meditated on the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, blessed chalk and then wrote the initials of the three Magi (Caspar, Melchoir, Balthazar) along with the date: C+20+M+B25, over the front door to light the way of pilgrims and seekers.  Afterward, we feasted on delicious appetizers, sweets, and a traditional spicy Kings’ Cake with hidden surprises. As conversations and laughter flowed, I felt surreally caught up in the light of the “star of wonder” by this mystical circle of friends who miraculously decorate my life every day.  

I have said this before, but no one on the planet is luckier than me to have such richness. I say “luckier” rather than “blessed” because I believe God blesses everyone equally. Some of us, in rare moments of transcendence, realize this. No explanations can be given. It is simply pure luck (some call it grace), a free gift, to have such loving friends, rituals, precious moments of togetherness, when all troubles and suffering are put aside and we bask in the glory of a starry night. The only response is gratitude, big gratitude, in my case.

“Friends are the best presents,” is a phrase embroidered on a little Christmas pillow given to me many years ago. May we never take that for granted.

Twelve Days to Celebrate!

It’s Christmas Eve—the most “filled-with-anticipation” day of the year for excited children and harried parents busy making memories and dreams come true. I breathe in deeply and smile because after four weeks of Advent, the longing is over. It’s time for an almost two-week celebration of JOY! Well, at least for some of us!

Every year, beginning on December 25, it has been my tradition to fully celebrate all twelve days of Christmas. No gifts of partridges in pear trees (although I do like to ponder the symbolism of that song), rather, a grateful response for the many gifts of that light that blaze from even the most quotidian of places.

Simply put, I love this designated time to celebrate the Incarnation, the infusion of the Divine into every order corner of my life. At year’s end, this practice steadies and fortifies me for whatever the coming twelve months will bring. I think of this as an indulgent gift, not only to myself but to all who strive for wisdom and seek more meaning out of life than our consumer culture can ever provide. Rather than feeling let down the day after Christmas (as so many children often experience), or a sense of “good riddance” (as so many adults experience), the elation increases each day and encourages me to stay in the “Christmas frame of mind” through Epiphany on January 6th.

For years, I have written and shared these reflections with family and friends, in person and online, and many of you have accompanied me on this little sojourn. So once again, I invite you to take this twelve-day journey with me. Resist the urge to take down the tree and put away the decorations early! Linger for a while in the glow, linger in the light, and feel rightfully energized when the first week of 2025 unfolds.