This time of year is distracting. There is extra noise, extra pressure to spend more money than I should, extra fattening food, extra busyness, and extra expectation that everything in my life should be happy and bright.
If you are lonely, or your family is in turmoil, or broken, the holidays highlight all the things that are not picture perfect. Facing Christmas in the desert can be tough.
I firmly believe that this sort of pain is actually a marvelous gift. A wilderness is often the perfect setting for clearing away the clutter, for encountering the divine in a new way. Acknowledging the reality that this life will never be Heaven, might just be the perfect set up for an epiphany, a chance to suddenly understand and seeing clearly for the first time.
My church is doing a series of sermons on Epiphany. It is not a word I have used often, so I decided to look it up. It means
1. The manifestation of Christ to the gentiles especially the Magi or
2. a manifestation of a divine or supernatural being or
3. a moment of sudden revelation or insight.
This Christmas season I am praying for and seeking epiphany cubed. Just as a cube has dimensionality, height and depth and width, I want this holiday season to be one characterized by three dimensional epiphany.
I want the height of encountering Christ. The Magi traveled through the desert in search of Christ. Maybe modern magi can travel through a difficult, desert season of life with the same aim.
I want the depth to see the divine. Maybe I will have new eyes to see the divine touch in my ordinary existence or maybe I will encounter the supernatural in an unexpected way, either way I am going to have my eyes and heart searching for the Holy.
I want epiphany number 3 too. I want the width to understand in a new way, to have those "aha" epiphany moments of insight and revelation.
May your December be all about epiphany.
Love,
Beth
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