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February 2012
Our new grandson, Wesley, was born on January 6th, the Feast of the Epiphany. With six grandchildren, it will be easy for me to remember Wes’ birthday since it was a baby that the Wise Men found as they watched a star led them to Bethlehem.
My grandson looks like any other baby to other people; but, to me, he is life itself: an extraordinary gift from God. I think the Wise Men schooled and experienced in a deeper wisdom saw the Child lying in a manger as a unique revelation from God; and while other guests at the inn took no notice and passed by, the Wise Men brought gifts and knelt before the Child.
The difference between the Wise Men and others passing by, and maybe the difference between a grandfather and another hospital visitor, is in the eye of the beholder. The Wise Men saw the divinity cloaked in flesh while others saw nothing but the outer form. I see eternity wrapped in eight pounds, ten ounces, of a newborn while others see another baby boy born on a cold Friday morning in Boston.
Virginia Woolf writes, “The compensation of growing old… was simply this: that the… passions remain as strong as ever, but one has gained… the power of taking hold of experience, of turning it around slowly, in the light.”
Epiphany means viewing. Regardless of age, I believe the season of Epiphany reminds us that we have power to reflect upon our experiences of God and one another in a new light. Instead of types and shadows, forms and shapes, we can look upon the world and one another with priceless value worthy of reverence and joy.
Let us pray that we may come to God and one another with the seeing eyes of the Wise Men and discern the Spirit that gives light and life to all. Let us not be unaware of the surrounding glory like those unnoticing eyes of hurrying guests and visitors who see nothing but the surface shell of things and the outer form of others.
In my office I have a postcard with a sketch on it portraying a city church, much like St. Thomas on 5th Avenue, New York City. Pedestrians are walking by the front door with their heads bent over and looking at the pavement. At the top of the stairs and beside the doors to the church is a sign from Psalm 121, with these words written on it, “Lift up your eyes…” Lift up your eyes. Words to live by. Everyday.
(The Rev.) Robert G. Windsor, Rector |
