Epiphany/Theophany

Today is the Feast of the Epiphany.

You can read about it here.

Any feast which recognizes the manifestation of God in human form is probably worth pausing just for a moment or two to consider.

In the Western Church, we remember the coming of the Magi today.

The Eastern Church calls the feast Theophany, and commemorates the baptism of Jesus.

The details I read about this feast are fascinating.

And so, tonight, for a few minutes, as the last of my advent candles burns down, and I light the three pillars that symbolize the trinity, and that replace the advent wreath and Christ candle (given as a gift to a friend) that sat on my dresser throughout the period of waiting, I'm pausing, to pray, to listen, to be thankful for the coming of God in human form, and to remember what the Eastern church celebrates as a truly trinitarian moment - the baptism of Jesus.

I pause, and I'm thankful for a God who took on flesh. For a God who revealed his nature to us in way that made it possible for us to enter into the life he offered more fully and deeply.