“The People Walking in Darkness Have Seen a Great Light.”
Actress and talk-show host Oprah Winfrey is very fond of speaking about the “Aha! moment.” That’s the moment when you suddenly understand a complex or vexing problem that has given you difficulties. …Or maybe it’s the moment when you finally see a solution that you have been looking for and had a hard time finding. Scientists have even found that the Aha! moment is connected to a measurable, physical phenomenon. Studies at Northwestern University, show such moments “light up the brain” with a burst of electrical activity that may show us making connections among facts and possibilities that we didn’t connect before. The studies also show that—if we're open to change and maybe even looking for some kind of change—an Aha! moment is more likely to happen.
Very early in Christian history, Christians began to observe a feast on the sixth of January, in remembrance of a special Aha! moment, when the wise men from the East came to honor the young child, Jesus. Eastern Christians call that observance the “Theophany.” Western Christians use the term “Epiphany.” Both terms come from the Greek and mean “the appearance or manifestation of a god.” Epiphany has also come to mean a sudden, intuitive insight, a burst of understanding or enlightenment.
Many mistaken impressions about this event have entered Western tradition. We don’t know how many wise men there were–only that there are three kinds of gifts mentioned: gold, frankincense and myrrh. We don’t know that they came to the stable on the night when Jesus was born—in fact he was certainly over week old and may have been as much as two years old when they arrived. Tradition has assigned names to them—the most common being Caspar, Balthazar and Melchior—but those names are nowhere in Scripture, nor in any record before the Sixth Century. They are often called “the three kings,” but in fact they probably were not kings.
However, from history and from Scriptures we do know something of the effect they had when they arrived. First, they most likely came from the Parthian Empire, representing enemies that Herod had driven out of Judea on behalf of the Romans, to seize the kingdom over which Rome had appointed Herod to rule. We can scarcely think Herod welcomed them cheerfully. Second, the throne of the Parthian Empire was unoccupied at the time, and the wise men of Parthia—also called “magi”—constituted a sort of Senate, which appointed the Emperor from among the eligible candidates. Herod certainly knew this and it would have added much tension to the idea that they were seeking a King. Third, they came looking for someone who was “born to be King of the Jews”. More than anything else, Herod feared and hated anyone who might be a threat to his crown. He even murdered his own children when he thought—with little apparent justification—that they were plotting to overthrow him.
What an amazing contrast. The wise men were driven by an event they saw as so important and powerful and joyful that they went far from their home, on a dangerous journey of at least two years, to a land ruled by an enemy. They brought gifts that were precious and rare, to bow down before an infant (or maybe a toddler) who they believed would bring wonderful and amazing changes to the world. They expected to find the child in a royal palace, but when they found him in very different circumstances they still welcomed and honored him. When they had worshipped him and given their gifts, “they departed for their own country by another way.”
On the other hand, Herod hated and feared this child, whom he had never met but whose birth he should have welcomed. Herod knew the prophecies of an eternal King from the House of David, and presumably—as a convert to Judaism—he should have welcomed the signs of this King’s coming. Instead, to save himself from the changes the child would bring—changes that threatened Herod’s sense of security and power—Herod ordered the murder of all the children in Bethlehem two years old or younger. Later, his conduct became even more bizarre, grandiose and paranoid. Eventually, he was struck down by a disease, which the Bible links to his pride and his arrogance.
We each have a mental and emotional image of what it means for us to encounter God in our lives, with expectations about how we will recognize this encounter and how it will shape our lives. Our expectations have been shaped by the religious beliefs we hold, by our family relationships, by the customs of our ethnic or cultural heritage, and by joyful, painful or traumatic life experiences. Whatever our expectations, history shows us some important things about encountering God.
First, encounters with God happen at times and places and in ways that we do not expect, no matter how much we think we know about God. We have to be open-minded and have some humility about what we think we know, or we are likely to fail to recognize those encounters. We’ll go to the wrong place, look for the wrong signs, and miss the wonderful and amazing changes and growth we might have received with joy.
Second, we have a choice about how we will respond. If we value the status quo, safety, security and stability more than we value God himself, we might respond with anxiety or anger, hostility and even destructiveness. On the other hand, if we value God for his own sake, and want to know him as he is—instead of as we think he should be—we have an opportunity to receive a joyful and transformative enlightenment that will bring new meaning and understanding to every part of our lives.
Third, having experienced an encounter with God, we can allow it to change our future paths and attitude—like the wise men who went home “by another way”, or we can continue the way we were going without God—like Herod who grew worse and worse to his own eventual destruction.
The encounter with God, the burst of insight, the Epiphany, happens in God’s own way, in God’s own time. However, whether we recognize it…what we make of it…what our lives become afterward, these things are largely up to us.
Chaplain Jonathan Landon is the USARCENT (US Army Central Command) Operations Chaplain (Forward). He is a priest in the Charismatic Episcopal Church. He represents the third consecutive generation of his family to serve in the Army, and has served for twenty-four years, in both Active and Reserve components, both enlisted and commissioned, in five military occupational specialties.
Note to the blog audience: I also provided the list of religious holidays below, in case the magazine needs a sidebar to fill some extra space.
RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES IN JANUARY 2010
Jan 1 - Mary, Mother of God - Catholic Christian
Jan 5 - Twelfth Night - Christian
Jan 6 - Epiphany/Theophany/Three Kings Day- Christian
Jan 7 - Nativity of Christ - Orthodox Christian
Jan 10 - Baptism of the Lord Jesus - Christian
Jan 20 - Vasant Panchami ** - Hindu
Jan 24 - Triodion begins - Orthodox Christian
Jan 25 - Conversion of St. Paul - Christian
Jan 30 - February 1 Mahayana New Year ** - Buddhist
Jan 30 - Tu B'shvat * - Jewish
Note for the blog audience... this is not a complete list of religious holidays in January, just the ones that represent major, world religions. If you're interested in more detail, check out the Interfaith Calendar
