Epiphany

The singing of Christmas carols are no longer heard.  The candles in the windows have been extinguished.  The Christmas trees have been taken down and the decorations stored away for another year.  Family members have returned to their own homes. Teachers and students are back in school.  The workplaces are open for business again.  It would appear that Christmas has come to an end until next year when we will do it all over again.  

This is not so, wrote Howard Thurman.  Now, in this New Year, now in this moment of time, the work of Christmas begins:

“When the song of the angels is stilled,

When the star in the sky is gone,

When the kings and princes are home,

When the shepherds are back with their flocks,

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,

To heal the broken,

To feed the hungry,

To release the prisoner,

To rebuild the nations,

To bring peace along brothers,

To make music in the heart.”

Did we hear our annunciation this Christmas?  Did we see the Star in the sky and follow it?  Did we find the Babe of Bethlehem born in some new way in us? Did we hear the Angel chorus? Did we take the journey to the inner Bethlehem of our own hearts? Did we make room in the Inn of our heart for the stranger and the sojourner?  These happenings are not reserved for just the seasons of Advent and Christmas.  Such things happen in  real time—all the time—at any time—in God’s time. And God’s time is not limited by our calendar, or schedule,  or by our celebratory moments.

Today is the beginning of Epiphany.  But I’m not so much interested in Epiphany with a capital letter these days.  I’m much more interested and attentive to epiphanies beginning with a small letter.  The word “epiphany” means “a sudden, intuitive perception of, or insight into, the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.”  Someone has said, “Epiphanies awaken the soul.”  

May our souls be awakened, our hearts troubled, our minds churned up and our spirits emboldened as the work of Christmas becomes real for us in this New Year 2019.