Epiphany: an Eye-opener and 2nd Chance

Epiphany: to Christians it is the coming of the wise men, the Magi, to the manger to find the Messiah and bring gifts and worship.  In language, it is a word that suggests an opening, the lifting of a curtain, the beginning of awareness that changes our thinking.  The word comes from the Greek epi-phainein, “to show to, to reveal”.

The wise men had found the location of the infant messiah by logic.  They followed the star that they knew from their study of the skies to be unusual, to see if it would take them to the one who they knew through their study of scripture was promised.  

But when they arrived by the grace of their logic, their knowing proved inadequate.  This was a poor couple in a stable, their baby in a manger, a food crib, the only thing that would hold it off the night-cool, dung-soiled ground.  It was not what they’d expected. 

And that is why it is called the epiphany.  They came to the place of unknowing, of illogic. 

Their learning and their knowing and their knees gave way, and it was in the dust of that stable that they had their epiphany.  It was there that the veil of logic and expectation was lifted and the truth was revealed to them…as mystery. 

He…was…not…who…they…thought…he…was.

We have had our Christmas.  Was it what we expected?  When our family came, were they who we thought they were, who we had planned for?  Was everything just fine, and were we spot-on with our preparations and our gifts?  Or were there some things that didn’t work out as we had hoped, some disappointment or confusion or even hurt?

When my kids became teenagers, branches growing farther from the trunk of the tree to capture their own sunlight, I found that my walk home from work was not long enough.  I learned to walk more slowly, to give myself time to remember that they…were…not…who…I…thought…they…were.  They were, more and more, beyond my logic and preparation.  They were, more and more, a mystery to me.  In my desire to be a good father, I needed to be like the Magi, to allow my logic to fail me, my knees to weaken.

What do we do in those little or huge circumstances when we find that our children, or our parents, or our partners or spouses, or God, are not who we thought they were, when they do not meet our expectations and fit our plans, and even our loving preparation?

The miracle of the Epiphany was not the birth of the Messiah.  It was the realization of thinking men that God was more than they thought.  The miracle of that Epiphany was that those men were willing to look not at the scene, but into the mystery of it, and to find their equilibrium not in their knowledge or on their camels, but in the same dust and the same circle of breath into which this Messiah was born.