epiphany day 2017

Let it not be lost that Epiphany Day this year has turned into a snow day for a majority of people I know all across the South. While my social media feeds are flooded with pictures of friends and family frolicking in cold snowy moments, we’ve received the good fortune of sleet. I’m not sure who can get excited about sleet, but I’m positive all the bread and milk have disappeared off the shelves at Kroger. I saw someone post that the most important thing on snow days should be making sure you have stocked up on toilet paper as opposed to bread and milk. I can’t disagree with that statement. In fact, we should all  be prepared with enough Charmin every day.

It’s only been in the recent years that I’ve become more aware and observant of Epiphany Day and what that means in my faith and beliefs. Generally once Christmas has come and gone, the rush to put away ornaments and Christmas wrappings swoops in, and we are left with the meaning of Christmas boxed up, locked up and stuffed away until it is time to bring it all out the next year.

But the observance of Epiphany Day reminds us that the meaning of Christmas has only just begun. After traveling night after night, the three kings found the baby Jesus on this day by following a star. Although his birth had happened weeks before, their commitment to find and honor him remained their number one priority. Once they found him, they opened their treasure chests and offered their very best of gold, frankincense, and myrrh as gifts to the King of the earth. The Adoration of the Magi is something that humbles me beyond words. Powerful, wealthy kings knelt in adoration to a tiny baby who was far more influential in the world than any other king was or would be.

We live in a world obsessed with power and greed. I know people who are so consumed with acquisitions in their personal and professional lives that their need to prove to others they are wealthy and powerful becomes the king to which they bow. We live in a world where humility is a lost character trait. Our world tells us to “be bold, be fierce, stop at nothing to get what you want,” and we miss the opportunity to connect with and hear the cries of hurting souls all around us. We miss the treasure of carrying the gift of this season beyond the Rubbermaid boxes of the holly and the tartan plaid ribbon. We miss many epiphanies of what it means to honor truth and light.

I guess my epiphany on Epiphany Day is one that forces me to reevaluate my own priorities for each day. The older I get the harder I find it is to declare things I will change for an entire year. Sometimes I’m doing good to focus on being truth and light from one day to the next or one moment to the next. But my hope for my life and this world lies in the gift of the manger scene and the Adoration of the Magi on all those years ago. So in the spirit of Epiphany Day, I honor you with the gift of wishing you a Merry Christmas today and every day, and may you keep the Gift of Hope unwrapped always.