Seeking Epiphanies

  It's odd. My favorite calendar season is Fall, but I'm all for winter when it comes to the church calendar.  My favorite is Advent with the expectations, introspection, burgeoning colored lights, and reflection. Then comes Christmas. I love Christmas Eve, but after that, blah. Maybe it is because I'm a 12-days-of-Christmas kind of Christian, who won't take the tree down until January 6, who misses the Christmas music that seems to disappear so quickly, and the massive undecorating of everything from houses to stores, quite often as soon as Christmas Day itself! It's too short for those of us who are still waiting for the Magi to appear.

Then there's Epiphany, my second favorite season. I love the idea of the Theophany, the revealing (theophany) of God incarnate in human form. The feast of the Epiphany marks the day that celebrates the Magi's arrival and presentation of their gifts to the Holy Family. But Epiphany is also a relatively long season, about three times (40-63 days, depending on the date of Ash Wednesday) as long as the Christmas season. But during the season, we think about everyday epiphanies we might encounter, "AHA!" moments that suddenly appear and cause us to rethink something and perhaps change direction entirely.

I've had some small epiphanies during my lifetime. Still, the ones I seem to remember are the ones that have come to me later in life, perhaps because I have more time to think about them. Some are mundane, like realizing I really don't need my truck and the expenses that come with it. I can get things delivered instead of going to the store, I can haul my garbage to the dumpster by pulling a small wagon along (getting exercise in the process), and I can save money I honestly don't have. I have friends I can call on for help if I need transport somewhere, but otherwise, I spend 98% of my time in the house, reading, knitting, and doing housework. So I donated my truck to the local classical music station, and so far, my epiphany has worked pretty well. 

Another epiphany happened several decades ago when I was working an evening shift job in a much more urban setting than I was used to. I went out one evening to take a break from work and enjoy the dark and the cooler air. Suddenly, I noticed a streetlight across the street, under which a man walked, pushing a grocery cart piled high with his possessions. I suddenly got an overwhelming sense of love for that man, a wish that I could make his life better, and knowing that this moment was passing too quickly. I remember it and the feelings as clearly and deeply as I did that night. The epiphany wasn't the rush of love but the idea that I'd never paid any real attention to the street people or even the ordinary people I passed on the sidewalks. It made me conscious that I needed to pay attention to others instead of keeping my eyes strictly on the ground and my thoughts on my personal thoughts and worries.

That time in my life was a fruitful one epiphany-wise, and I found things to write about, consider, and action to take. Years later, I would come to understand these epiphanies were a kind of theological reflection, a place where a person or group can consider an item or instance from four different perspectives: that of how our culture sees it; where similar things appear in our tradition (like hymns, scripture, liturgy, etc.); what each person's position is on the subject under consideration; and what implications or epiphanies we each had had that would be useful in our individual ministries inside and outside the church. 

I still encounter epiphanies and get such joy every time it happens. It can be sparked by something I read in a book, hear on radio, TV, or in class. Someone could have said something in passing or something that seems to come out of the clear blue (I think of those as God-sparks). The commonality is that it makes me take a different look at something I probably hadn't considered before. After reviewing it, I still have the freedom to choose to do something with the epiphany. Quite often, though, I find my thinking has changed on some subject or experience, and changed for the better.

The season of Epiphany reminds me that this process is available all year but that I'm probably going to be more attentive during this period. Still, I keep looking for my "Aha!" moments and being grateful when one shoots past me like a comet.

Be aware that epiphanies can come from anywhere. They’re too precious to miss.

Originally published at Speaking to the Soul on Episcopal Café, Saturday, January 22, 2022.