Random Thoughts on the Feast of the Epiphany

• I'm laughing a little this morning over God sending us a white "little Christmas" on the Feast of the Epiphany. Camp Kreitzer is a winter wonderland. And the snow makes everything very quiet and still. It brings my thoughts back to the "blessed hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold." Even our chicken coop reminds me of the rough stable. I shoveled a path to make it easier to get out there. Did God clear a path for the three wise men as they traveled so many miles to visit the newborn king?

• One of my favorite paintings of the Epiphany shows an elderly king kneeling before the manger kissing the foot of Baby Jesus. But I recently saw a painting by Scottish painter William Brassey Hole who died in 1917, the year my dad was born. He did many industrial paintings, but as the century changed, he travelled to Palestine to gather background for biblical paintings. He later published the life of Jesus with 80 watercolors. 

Three Kings Worship Christ by William Brassey Hole

• Epiphany is all about gift giving. What gifts do we want to give to Jesus today and all through the coming year? I like to think of gold as our gifts of almsgiving and charity. Frankincense reminds me of our prayer and worship. Will I do it this year more attentively and regularly always putting the will of God first in my life? I hope so. Myrrh to me symbolizes suffering and death to self. No one can avoid suffering and physical death is inevitable. The important thing is to avoid spiritual death and to help save others from that gruesome end. I hope as the year progresses to remember to bring the gifts of the wise men to Jesus every single day. I'm asking my guardian angel to remind me since I'm absent minded and often lazy.

• It's interesting to think that the confirmation of a newly-elected president of the United States always takes place on Epiphany. The word comes from the Greek and means "manifestation." Was that date set deliberately or is it one of those "coincidences" that has God's fingerprints all over it? The certification is set to take place at 1:00 p.m. The word epiphany has no positive or negative connotation attached to it, but simply a "show me" message. Some certifications manifest coming disaster like the election of Joe Biden, arguably the worst president in American history. Others offer a message of hope like the election of Ronald Reagan. Let us pray that Donald Trump's certification offers hope after four years of gloom. I have never been so relieved to see an administration pack up and leave Washington. Although the Clintons' and Obamas' pretty much offered a three-way tie.

Have a blessed Epiphany and don't forget to mark your door with the names of the glorious kings, the first celebrants of this great feast. Caspar, Balthazar, and Melchior, pray for us.