Happy Epiphany!
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go4tli
Jan 6, 2012, 7:57:28 AM1/6/12
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Happy Epiphany!
There are times when I wish we, even as nondenominational Protestants,
celebrated the feast days that the Church celebrated through most of
its history. Epiphany is one of them. Specifically, in the West,
it's principally to celebrate the Magi visiting Jesus, and by
extension, Jesus revealing Himself to the Gentiles. In the East, it's
principally to celebrate Jesus' baptism, and by extension, the moment
when God the Father revealed that Jesus is His Son.
(Unless you're following the Julian calendar, in which case, we have
the wrong day -- it's supposed to be the 19th. But anyway.)
Regardless of what you're celebrating Epiphany *for*, what's important
is what Epiphany *means*.
In general, an epiphany (with a small "e") is an insight into the
reality or essence of something, usually initiated by something
relatively commonplace. That's Jesus in a nutshell. What's more real
or more essential than God? What's more common to man's experience
than a man?
For so much of human history, God and man were entirely separate.
This *had* to get in the way of communication and understanding. This
is especially poignant, for example, at the end of Job. Job
complains, "You have no idea what it's like to be me", and God
replies, "Yeah? Well, *you* have no idea what it's like to be *Me*".
And that's where the conversation ends. An impasse.
And given what we're talking about here, that's certainly valid. The
God of Orion and ostriches is simply beyond us -- not just beyond our
everyday experience, but completely beyond our ability to comprehend
or even imagine. But that yearning for mutual understanding echoes
through the centuries. Even as recently as 1995, Joan Osbourne was
compelled to ask in her heartbreaking way, "What if God was one of
us?"
Epiphany tells us that God, in fact, *was* one of us. God took the
first step in bridging that chasm of mutual non-understanding. Sure,
He was the only One Who *could*, but we thank Him that He *did*. And
when He did, He started to teach us. And show us.
The chasm is wide, but it seems to me that if we truly seek to be like
God, we'll be interested in doing whatever we can to get closer to
closing it. Even if the individual epiphanies are small.
There are times when I wish we, even as nondenominational Protestants,
celebrated the feast days that the Church celebrated through most of
its history. Epiphany is one of them. Specifically, in the West,
it's principally to celebrate the Magi visiting Jesus, and by
extension, Jesus revealing Himself to the Gentiles. In the East, it's
principally to celebrate Jesus' baptism, and by extension, the moment
when God the Father revealed that Jesus is His Son.
(Unless you're following the Julian calendar, in which case, we have
the wrong day -- it's supposed to be the 19th. But anyway.)
Regardless of what you're celebrating Epiphany *for*, what's important
is what Epiphany *means*.
In general, an epiphany (with a small "e") is an insight into the
reality or essence of something, usually initiated by something
relatively commonplace. That's Jesus in a nutshell. What's more real
or more essential than God? What's more common to man's experience
than a man?
For so much of human history, God and man were entirely separate.
This *had* to get in the way of communication and understanding. This
is especially poignant, for example, at the end of Job. Job
complains, "You have no idea what it's like to be me", and God
replies, "Yeah? Well, *you* have no idea what it's like to be *Me*".
And that's where the conversation ends. An impasse.
And given what we're talking about here, that's certainly valid. The
God of Orion and ostriches is simply beyond us -- not just beyond our
everyday experience, but completely beyond our ability to comprehend
or even imagine. But that yearning for mutual understanding echoes
through the centuries. Even as recently as 1995, Joan Osbourne was
compelled to ask in her heartbreaking way, "What if God was one of
us?"
Epiphany tells us that God, in fact, *was* one of us. God took the
first step in bridging that chasm of mutual non-understanding. Sure,
He was the only One Who *could*, but we thank Him that He *did*. And
when He did, He started to teach us. And show us.
The chasm is wide, but it seems to me that if we truly seek to be like
God, we'll be interested in doing whatever we can to get closer to
closing it. Even if the individual epiphanies are small.
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