Food for Thought: What an Epiphany!

The day of Epiphany is celebrated in most churches as a day to commemorate the visit of the Magi (wise men) to the Christ child. It represents the realization that the long-awaited birth of the Messiah had occurred. It is considered the manifestation of the divine in the world, in the form of a human child. It represents the recognition that the Son of God had come to save everyone, Jew and Gentile alike.

Today the word "epiphany" carries a range of meanings, including "an intuitive grasp of reality," "an illuminating discovery, realization, disclosure, or insight," or simply "a revealing scene or moment." One definition of an epiphany is "a moment of revelation that usually changes you in some way." It may be a sudden intellectual or emotional experience or even a gradual clarification over time.

Most of us have had an “aha” moment when something has become suddenly clear to us, or a new and truer understanding has hit us. That moment might have seemed to come out of the blue or from something that opened our eyes to a concept we had not fully grasped before.

I vividly remember the day that I heard that my neighbor, who was a little younger than me, had suddenly died. I don’t remember the cause of death. What I do remember is my reaction to it. It suddenly occurred to me that “there but for the grace of God go I”. In other words, I realized more clearly that even a person in their early thirties can die––even me. I had always known that I would eventually die, but it became newly real how imminent that could be. My neighbor’s death was an “aha” moment for me. I realized that I needed to grow up, and take more responsibility for my life. I had to think more about what I was to accomplish as a Christian. I needed to get serious about what God was expecting of me.

“Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints” Ephesians 1:18

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2 70