Epiphany

Although we may have sung We Three Kings of Orient are; bearing gifts we traverse a far and enjoyed T.S. Eliot’s Magi – A cold coming we had of it, Just the worst time of year for a journey, and such a long journey. Epiphany marks the arrival of the “wisemen.” Until that moment the story of the coming Messiah has been confined to Israel, but here suddenly, mysteriously, are three Gentiles who have intuited that his birth is good news for them too. This is an Epiphany, a revelation, that the birth of Christ is not one small step for a local religion but a great leap for all humanity. Here’s a poem reflecting on that:

Epiphany

It might have been just someone else’s story,
Some chosen people get a special king.
We leave them to their own peculiar glory,
We don’t belong, it doesn’t mean a thing.
But when these three arrive they bring us with them,
Gentiles like us, their wisdom might be ours;
A steady step that finds an inner rhythm,
A  pilgrim’s eye that sees beyond the stars.
They did not know his name but still they sought him,
They came from otherwhere but still they found;
In temples they found those who sold and bought him,
But in the filthy stable, hallowed ground.
Their courage gives our questing hearts a voice
To seek, to find, to worship, to rejoice. Malcolm Guite

Prayer:

Shepherd of Israel,
you sent a star to enlighten the wise
and a child to topple the tyrant.
Make us
wise enough to seek you
among the least of your children,
wise enough to trade our treasures
for the gift of overwhelming joy. Amen.