A New Year! And it has always felt fitting to me that Epiphany falls at the start of it. Epiphany means “appearance,” or “manifestation,” and in the Christian story it refers to the arrival of three seekers from far away, converging on a brand new manifestation of divinity in the form of a newborn baby. It is celebrated on January 6th. Non-Christians use the term as well, of course, usually to mean a sudden realization or understanding. Either way, it connotes something new, something filled with new possibility.
At the beginning of this pandemic, I leaned heavily on a quote from Fred Rogers’ mother, who said that when things are really scary, one should look for the helpers—there are always helpers. Things are still scary, and the helpers, thank goodness, are still among us. But as we cross the threshold into a new year, perhaps we can summon enough energy to also look for what is new, what has been born, manifested, realized, understood.
At some point after a traumatic experience, tiny stirrings of an interest in the future begin. And as a result of what we have been through the last nine months, our future is considerably different than what we once thought it would be. Much is new there. What is it? The three seekers from the East were stirred to seek out the new, and all the possibilities that it revealed; perhaps we are ready to seek out the new, too.
--The Rev. Barbara Talcott
Spread the word!
Do you know someone in the St. Mark’s community who would enjoy these reflections?
