Seeker

6 January is the Feast of the Epiphany which starts the Epiphany season which follows the 12 days of Christmas which ended yesterday. The celebration on 6th January focuses on the story in Matthew's Gospel of strange outsiders from the east, the magi, people obsessed by study and interpretation of the movements of planets and stars. They followed the direction of a new star, expecting to find a new special king. What they found was a toddler with his parents, in an ordinary house in Bethlehem, on what was presumably for Mary, Joseph and their son Jesus, an ordinary day. And they were overwhelmed with joy. Something wonderful was revealed to those mysterious strangers that the locals didn't see. They experienced an 'epiphany', a moment of revelation. They glimpsed the glory of God in the face of the child Jesus. You can read the story in Matthew's gospel here and you might notice that unlike most nativity plays there are no camels, no kings, no stable and the nu...

Have you packed away your Christmas decorations or are you someone who likes to leave them until at least the end of today, the Feast of Epiphany? I took ours down this afternoon, so the house is gradually returning to its normal look. I've posted several times in the past for today's feast on this blog. If you want to take a look you can find links on my Epiphany page .  I wasn't planning to do another post today, but then I came across a story I hadn't heard before. It's about the 'Fourth Wise Man'. Traditionally there were 3 wise men, perhaps only thought of as 3 because they brought 3 expensive gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh. The story of the visit of the magi (or wise men) to the child Jesus is only told in Matthew's Gospel and doesn't state a number. There could have been 2, 3, 4 or many more who sought the 'new-born king'. In the story I came across today, the 4th wise man set out but never got to Bethlehem with the others...

Here's a round-up of some posts  about the Feast of the Epiphany that  I think are worth reading . In Strangers Bearing Gifts Nancy Rockwell has some interesting reflections on the practicality rather than symbolic nature of the gifts given by the magi to the Christ-child: "What better than gold for buying safe passage out of Jerusalem, when so many boy babies are being killed?  What better than medicinal and funereal herbs, to be exchanged for food at a market on the way to Egypt, or for housing in Egypt, or for clothing to make them more able to blend into the surroundings in which, for two years, they will be refugees?  And when, after the death of Herod, they return to Galilee, a stored coin or two could make that journey possible." In Is Epiphany Plausible? Ian Paul does some critical reflecting on what critical scholarship has to say about Matthew's nativity account. In Epiphany Evensong at Coventry Kathryn posts a sermon in which she says that epip...

I took down the Christmas tree and other decorations today. The crib scene will remain for the first few days of the Epiphany season which began today, the Feast of the Epiphany. The wise men have been travelling across our mantelpiece through the 12 days of Christmas. They are made of olive wood, so not nearly as colourful as the ones in this fascinating image. Early this morning they arrived to join assorted animals, Mary, Joseph and the Christ child in the centre.  The story of the magi (or wise men) is told in Matthew 2: 1 -12 . These mysterious strangers presented expensive gifts to the infant Jesus of gold, frankincense and myrrh, offerings rich in symbolism relating to Jesus' identity and significance.  In his poem 'The Offering' Jeremy Taylor (1613 - 1667) reflects on the wise men's gifts and on what he might offer to Jesus: They gave to thee   Myrrh, frankincense and gold   But, Lord, with what shall we   Present ourselves before thy m...

Today the wooden figures of the magi have completed their arduous journey across our living room and reached the crib on the mantelpiece. Yes, the crib is still there. The other Christmas decorations are gone, but the 'wise men' have only just found what they seek. I think they should be allowed to remain in wonder for a while, before they return home "by a different way", don't you? Even though, some years ago our dog ate the wooden baby Jesus, so all the magi can see is a wooden cross resting on Jesus' coffin-shaped crib. Maybe there's a message there. Today the 12 days of Christmas give way to the start of Epiphany. The celebration on 6th January focuses on the strange outsiders from the east, the magi, people obsessed by study and interpretation of the movements of planets and stars. They followed the direction of a new star, expecting to find a new special king. What they found was a toddler with his parents, in an ordinary house in Bethlehem, on ...

Have you heard the story about the Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson? As a young boy he used to watch the lamplighter lighting the village street lights below his house. He would say to his mother, "here comes the man who punches holes in the darkness" . This is one of the best pictures of epiphany that I know. Epiphanies are when we experience a hole punched in darkness so we see something or someone in a new light. What we didn't or couldn't see before is suddenly revealed to us. We all have those moments from time to time. Sometimes such moments are life-changing. For Christians, today 6 January is the Feast of the Epiphany , a celebration of God punching a hole in the darkness. The story of the wise men from the east who were led by a star to find and worship a baby in Bethlehem is well-known. They represent all of us who were not there when Jesus was born but are drawn to him by whatever light we are given. For those who find him life can never be t...

Today is the Feast of the Epiphany. I've put away the Christmas decorations, made Christmas gift labels for next year from this year's Christmas cards and walked round the village in unusually deep snow. Now, watching the snow falling again, I think of those mysterious wise men, 'magi' from the east who opened their treasure chests to give the infant Jesus the toddler-unfriendly gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Today's cold reminds me of the poem by T.S. Eliot about the visit of the magi in which one of the wise men reflects on the long hard journey he made with the others many years before and what exactly it was that they found - birth of death? Here it is: Journey of the Magi   'A cold coming we had of it,   just the worst time of the year  for a journey,   and such a long journey:   The ways deep and the weather sharp,   the very dead of winter.   And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,   lying down...