Epiphany

I was reading another blog today. As we prepare for Epiphany tomorrow (or tonight for some) they had posted T.S. Elliot’s Journey of the Magi. I’ve copied it here.

It’s worth the read.

A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.’
And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.

Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high prices:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.

What is the significance to our Epiphany observance? How does this story inform us? Change us?

In our church, we have a strong African American presence. It has become our tradition to celebrate February as African American History Month. To some, this seems quite strange. To me, it seemed quite strange when I first started serving in our Worship ministries. Though, as it were, the practice often began in January, overlapping both Epiphany and Lent. Now Epiphany has so many variations of celebration, from one day to weeks, each of which have their own implications and significance. And normally, this time between Christmas (remember, we’re not finished celebrating! One more day!) and Lent was utilized for “new direction” and “This Year’s focus” for churches. Yet, if we interrupt the celebration of Christ’s birth, a signal of everlasting change to our world, with the modicum passing of another measurement of time, I fear we send mix messages. Would it not be suitable to pull out the kazoos and party hats right before we enter into Advent? Maybe as churches wrap up the Ordinary Season, with a synopsis of the past year and a clear direction for the next one (therefore emphasizing the need for a solid start—Advent), the New Year that we celebrate could be transformed into a time to reflect on the implications of “the world” (or representations—Magi) finding Jesus, and Jesus expanding his kingdom beyond the “chosen” or Jews, and redefining history, once again to welcome all nations, tribes and tongues.
This is a time we celebrate Christ for all nations. If you are a multi-ethnic church, consider making this part of your liturgical calendar and use the gifts and experiences of those in your congregation.