Epiphany

Time seems to pass so quickly. I had intended to write a note to wish everyone a blessed new year, but Christmas flowed into a new year and now we are at the Christian celebration of Epiphany.

I have always been captivated by the fidelity of those Magi – the star gazers of old who journeyed faithfully believing in the meaning the star held. To be so aware that the Light they were following was the path for them to a new King is such a marvel.

But the story does not end there. They were willing to ask significant others for what they knew of the fulfillment of their search. But the real miracle of the story is what they saw in an infant the divinity hidden within his infancy.

At times people ask me ‘how can you believe in such a fictional story’?’ “How can something so obviously mythological hold any truth, let alone enough truth that people place their faith in the event?’

One of the blessings of sitting with people in spiritual direction is to see this story unfold in their lives today. I listen to the beliefs they hold about where they are going and why. I listen to the fears and anxieties that surface when they can’t see their ‘star’. I hear the hopes and dreams as they keep searching for the expression of the Truth that lies deep within them. I hear the exhaustion as they face the ramifications of illness and yet they keep going. And I see the utter joy in their eyes knowing they have indeed ‘seen’ the Light.

Epiphany is the celebration of ‘Seekers’ – those wonderful people who have intuited and experienced the ‘something more’ of life itself. It celebrates the Magi in each of us who is focused, restless, tenacious, faithful – all those aspects of ourselves that keep us moving in response to the direction of God.

We are all Seekers. As this month continues to unfold, may you have vision, insight, strength and courage to continue your journey to the place where God dwells. May you find there, your soul’s desire and know it once again.