Epiphany!

 

 Well, according to the Christian calendar, yesterday was the 12^th day of Christmas, meaning Christmas is officially over. (I kind of unofficially marked Christmas as over last Sunday night, when I ate the last Christmas tree cake, but that’s a different story.) Today is Epiphany, which marks the day the wisemen were thought to have visited the Christ child. Being from Louisiana, Epiphany also marks the beginning of the Mardi Gras season, so Christmas Tree Cakes can be replaced by King Cake (but again…different story.)

Growing up, I never really put together the fact that the celebration of Epiphany actually is linked to the common definition of epiphany that we all know—“a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something.” Both the manifestation of Christ on earth, and the perception that the Magi had to not return to Herod and disclose the location of Jesus—Epiphany really is an appropriate name for this day.

An epiphany is a funny thing, because you can never plan for it. Sometimes we hope and pray for enlightenment on a subject, but there is nothing we can really do to cause it to show up. For me, epiphanies most often come when I’m sitting around, not doing anything, and give my mind a moment to still. I will have completely moved on from thinking about whatever it was, and then all of a sudden I am granted the knowledge I was seeking. It’s like my mind needs some room for distance and perspective to work things out subconsciously.

I know everyone had a very different 2020—some of us had lots more time to think, while others of us had lots more to do, but for me, 2020 was a good year for epiphanies. I was forced to slow, forced to deal with quiet in a way I hadn’t been before, and that quiet allowed room for God to speak and my mind to process. Because, if we are being really honest, while some epiphanies may be internal (like suddenly remembering where we left our glasses), the more important epiphanies are just another name for hearing from God. When God speaks to us, when we have a realization of things we want to change, people we should work to love better, or ways we can grow—those are all instances of God drawing us closer to himself.

I can’t think of a better way to start a new year than celebrating the act of God speaking. May 2021 grant us all more opportunities to hear from God, and may we be intentional about leaving room for God to speak. Scripture reminds us that we most often hear from God in a whisper rather than a shout, and whispers demand quiet. My goal for myself and my hope for you is that we continue to leave room for God to whisper, even after the activities of the modern world spin back up.