Dear Friends:
This week in a yoga class, I heard the instructor say the name of a particular yoga posture in Sanskrit. I don't know any Sanskrit. I know I could learn all the special yoga words but I'm content to appreciate that yoga has a long history. The words convey a culture and a feeling and they help me enter the yoga world.
Every "world" has its special words, whether it's baseball, poetry, or your favourite hobby. You may have noticed that church has its special words. For example, at St John's, we enter the church building by coming into the narthex. We are greeted by sidespersons. A prayer at the beginning of the service is listed in the bulletin as the "Collect of the Day" and one near the end is listed as the "Doxology."
There are times when we think it's all too strange and we should change to words that are more accessible. I find myself doing this at the beginning of the worship service to help newcomers to know what to expect. There are other times when I want to insist that we keep our special words. Our words might seem strange, but they help us enter a world that is special and different and laden with history.
We have a special word for this time in the church year. We are in the season of Sundays after Epiphany. That's our name for the story of the Magi coming to worship the Christ child in Bethlehem. What do we find if we look up the word "Epiphany"? Encyclopedia Britannica goes with the Greek word epiphaneia, which translates into English as "manifestation." Wikipedia says that Epiphany is the "realization that Christ is the Son of God." In popular conversation, if you have an epiphany, it's an "aha-moment" when you make a connection you have not made before.
This Sunday's scriptures take us into manifestations and aha-moments. The boy Samuel hears the voice of God waking him up at night. He goes on to become a great prophet. Also this Sunday, Jesus calls his first disciples. They are so moved by him that they drop what they are doing.
May we be open to new realizations and insights as we come together to worship God. Find out more about Epiphany Star Words below In this newsletter, I hope you have your word and that it brings insights over the coming year.
Please join us this Sunday, 8:00 and 10:15 a.m. Welcome to St John's!
Gary+
P.S. Please see the sad news below about Saskia Meuffels. We give thanks to God for her life and pray for her husband Jim Cummings at this time of loss. Funeral details follow.
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