January 6 was the Epiphany. When the word is capitalized, Merriam-Webster defines it as “a church festival in commemoration of the coming of the Magi as the first manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles or in the Eastern Church in commemoration of the baptism of Christ.”
Manifestation of meaning
Most Christian churches in this country don’t make much of this “church festival” but ever since I’ve had my own home, it marks the end of the Christmas season for me. There really are 12 days of Christmas starting with December 25. Epiphany also marks the day to put away my Christmas decorations.
I also wrapped a Christmas gift for a friend who has recently left COVID quarantine and can now receive it. But I didn’t feel very wise doing it and I needed no star to guide me to her because I just traveled to my front door to deliver it. Still, an Epiphany moment of gifting.
Without a capital letter, Merriam-Webster says an epiphany is “a usually sudden manifestation or presentation of the essential nature or meaning of something; an intuitive grasp of reality through something (such as an event) usually simple and striking; an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure; a revealing scene or moment.”
As I write this, it’s now January 7 and I haven’t even started to put away my Christmas decorations, sparse as they are this year. But yesterday was a day filled with manifestations of the essential meaning of something, a grasp of reality through a simple and striking event, an illuminating disclosure, and a revealing scene or moment.
I woke early on January 6 to news reports of the Georgia election results with the first African American and the first Jewish American elected to the U.S. Senate. Their elections signal a shift in Congress that offers hope that our government can move forward toward healing the nation and repairing the broken places that keep us divided.
This meant I became optimistic about our ability to control the COVID pandemic in our country. It meant hope that we would no longer witness separation, caging, and pushing back families seeking asylum as Mary and Joseph did when fleeing certain death in their homeland. It meant relief for people struggling with fear of hunger and homelessness. It meant confronting our differences and acknowledging the differences each one makes.
Simple and striking event
After the news, I attended a short Zoom meeting to formally incorporate the new Minnesota Conference Board of Pensions and Health Benefits. We passed the necessary motions, confirmed an Executive Director, voted on an Executive Team and budget, and swore in a Board of Directors.
This almost boring business as usual meeting was a response to potential changes in the United Methodist Church. The previous Board was concerned with our ability to fulfill our sworn fiduciary responsibilities in whatever becomes of the UMC in that new structure. We’d been in conversation about this concern at every Board meeting since 2019 and some of us have researched how to ethically and faithfully move forward.
This very simple and brief meeting encapsulates a reality we have yet to face.
Illuminating disclosure
Then the curtain was pulled back, clearly revealing what some had already seen through the darkness. The invasion of domestic terrorists and failed insurrection by white supremacists on the afternoon of the Epiphany exposed the stench of racial injustice that has permeated our nation long before the white mob smeared feces in the halls of the Capitol.
We saw how some people -- who once offered excuses for misogynism, racism, and fascism when their support for the misogynist, racist, and fascist advanced their own agenda -- can turn like a worm (by bending backward) when their safety is threatened.
Of all the scenes, all the moments in an afternoon of memorable moments, the one that struck me the most was the picture of our political leaders hiding under chairs in the halls of political power and barricaded behind doors in undisclosed places. Their fear is palpable, clearly displayed on their faces as they kneel with gas masks, awaiting the terrorists at the door.
This brought to mind students practicing lockdown drills behind barricaded classroom doors as they crouch under desks and chairs contemplating the potential gunman. Will those politicians connect their experience to those children? Will we see a change in their stance on gun laws? I can only pray for such a miracle.
The Magi
This Epiphany in this new year has begun with some historic firsts, some precious gifts, and some painful reminders.
The expensive gold is our hope that we will find our power, not in earthly kings, but in a child conceived in the divine and born to a carpenter and his wife. The holy frankincense is our reminder that awe may make us fall to our knees but it need not be in fear but in faith. And the costly myrrh tells us that death is not always an end; it can also mean a fresh start to something wonderful -- but it comes with sacrifice. What will you give?
Dare I look for miracles? Or are we called to make the miracle? Could lament, once again, end with a new creation? Or are we called to connect with the divine within us and be creators?
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