Epiphany #1- Waiting

[əˈpifənē]

NOUN

the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi (Matthew 2:1–12).

· the festival commemorating the Epiphany on January 6.

· a manifestation of a divine or supernatural being.

a moment of sudden revelation or insight.

First step in the Epiphany cycle:

WAITING

The magi knew something the others didn’t. The art of the stars and the predictions of wizards, dreamers and prophets would converge one special day.

And so, they waited…

Who knows how many weeks, months, years they waited?

Did they scan charts, counting down to when things might align?

Did they pace the moonlit fields, imagining they saw things as they squinched their eyes at the inky sky?

Did they ever doubt?

Waiting is knowing that an answer is out there, but not knowing when –or if—it will ever come.

It hurts.

It bores.

It frustrates.

But it also makes us lean closer,

Listen carefully,

Scan for details,

Come alive to our senses.

And, whether we like it or not, it makes us tunnel from surface questions, down and down to deeper ones. (Am I being punished for something? What if x never happens? Will I be ok? Will my faith stay intact? God, is this your will, or just mine?)

The Magi didn’t leave any hints about how they waited – just that they did.

And so must we.

The quality of our waiting will change us. Will we enter in and listen, determined to be open-hearted to receiving something (even if it differs from the thing we long for)? --- Or, will we place a steely focus on that one thing and, perhaps not getting it, become close-fisted and bitter?

I say, let's pace the moonlit fields, scanning the night skies as the Magi did, breathing in the night air, asking the big questions, being open to the hope of new possibilities.