Epiphany Remembered

Epiphany remembered

“Arise, shine; for your light has come,

and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.”—Isaiah 60:1.

ed seward

Epiphany, the revelation, the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles-us, you, and me. Christ is manifested to me almost sensuously at Epiphany. It first happened in the mid-fifties when I attended my first Episcopal service, the Epiphany Feast of Lights. I was around eleven and went to the small Virginia church in my hometown with a boyfriend and his family. I still remember the unfamiliar liturgy, the candlelight, and the haunting mystic melodies. 

As we walked out of the small-town church on that bitterly cold January night, carrying our candles, we were surprised by the winter’s first snow.  I knew that night God spoke most clearly to me through this tradition. 

 A decade later, I again encountered the beauty of the Feast of Lights at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Memphis, with their choral procession of the costumed wise men bearing their splendid gifts. Soon, we were able to bring the service to Little Rock. 

 Here in Little Rock at St. Mark’s, we again experience Epiphany’s haunting call at their evening service on January 6th. The wise men will revisit us. Our bishop often celebrates, and sometimes there is a guest preacher. Recently, it was the minister of Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church, Dr. John Robbins. There will be a choir and candlelight recessional out of the church into the dark night, which is always breathtaking.  I watch the beautiful, often familiar faces of those walking ahead of me. Their expressions seem to ask, “What will we encounter next in the night? Will this light be enough for me to see?” 

This service empowers us to think about carrying our small candle out into the world.  As the candlelight service concludes, we realize we can only see our path because of the light from so many others before, beside, and behind us.

The service should still be available online through St. Mark’s Facebook page.

I encourage those at home to have a candle by you during the service. The candle will remind all of us of Christ, the light of the world, still reaching out to us at both good and challenging times.

I would love to hear what new epiphanies come to you during this epiphany season that is so different. As the angel told the wise men in a dream, “We will be going home by a different road.”

May this new year be full of many epiphanies on new roads for you and those you love.

The wise men appeared this year at Saint Mark’s last night on Monday, January 6th, at 6 pm. We will also remember Epiphany on January 6th, 2024, with the ordination and consecration of John Harmon as the 14th bishop of Arkansas on the Feast Day of Epiphany. Today, we remember Bishop Harmon’s first year and welcome prayers for him and our diocese, especially for every Epiphany.

Paying it Forward on Epiphany

Paying it Forward on Epiphany

“It is important that we learn humility, which says there was someone else before me who paid for me. My responsibility is to prepare myself so that I can pay for someone else who is yet to come.”—Maya Angelou

the rev. gordon maroney

On this first day of Epiphany, I often remember friends who have died.

I am thinking of a priest friend, Gordon Maroney, who died just before Christmas this year. Gordon taught high school math and was a faithful priest to two small churches in east Arkansas. Gordon was also a consistent reader of Daily Something, even up to a few days before his death. He shared Daily Something each morning with his congregations. He was a consummate teacher to the end. I will try to honor Gordon by being a faithful friend and mentor to other congregations and groups, no matter the size, knowing numbers are not significant. I have a story to tell, and I long to hear their story. This is where love lives.

Another picture includes a few of our many friends who have died in the past years that we can barely talk about and want to remember and honor.

sylvia

I also always remember Sylvia, who died many years ago and whom I dearly loved. We worked together early in my ministry at St. Margaret’s. She taught me about servant leadership. She was a single mom, a nurse, and a caregiver like none other. She was a visitor from St. Margaret’s who went to the sick to say prayers. However, she became more like a parish nurse, advocating in the hospital for the medical condition of those with whom she said prayers. Sylvia would go to nursing stations and let anyone know what “her patients” needed.

We started a 12-step group at our church, which lasted only four months. Sylvia was one of the first to come to it and was in recovery for the rest of her life. We always believed we started it just for her and never regretted any effort we put into it.

Sylvia loved us, but more than us, she loved her grandchildren, whom she talked about almost constantly. 

She died too early while her grandchildren were still young. Somehow, I stay connected to her family and know a little about her oldest granddaughter. I intermittently write to Darcy and tell her some stories about her grandmother, but I especially tell her how much Sylvia loved and adored her. I honestly believe Sylvia has somehow been “suggesting” that I do this the way she made “suggestions” so well in her physical life. This is precisely what she would tell me to do if she were physically beside me.

Sylvia wants her grandchildren, Jack and Darcy, to know how much they were and are still loved. In turn, Sylvia reminds us that we can do the same. When I remember Sylvia’s untimely death, I am moved to call, text, email, or visit my grandchildren as I remember what a privilege it is to let them know they are loved.

This was my Epiphany present this year from Sylvia and for many years to come.

I am learning that other recently deceased friends have also left gifts that I am to share with others. Maybe I can talk about them next year without weeping all over this paper. It takes time, prayer, and talking to other friends to process the death of a loved one. Slowly, gifts emerge that call us to pay their love forward.

Joanna     https://www.joannaseibert.com/

Buechner: More Gifts of Christmas

Buechner: Gift of Christmas

“O Lord, the gift of new life, new light, can be a gift only if we open ourselves to receive it. So, this is our prayer, Lord: that thou wilt open our eyes to see thy glory in the coming again of light each day, open our ears to hear the angels’ hymn in the stirring within us of joy at the coming of the child, open our hearts to the transforming power of thy love as it comes to us through the love of all those who hold us most dear and have sacrificed most for us.

Be born among us that we may ourselves be born. Be born within us that by words and deeds of love, we may bear the tidings of thy birth to the world that dies for lack of love. Amen.”—Frederick Buechner, “Come and See,” Secrets in the Dark, A Life in Sermons, p. 55.

Seibert women lunch, Women with many gifts.

 The gift of Christmas is the incarnation, a big word that means God loves us so much that God came among us and became human. It was and is a gift. The gift of the incarnation also extends to us, as it did to Mary. On this eleventh day of Christmas, I remember that a part of God is also born in us and every other person we meet.

Advent has been a time for us to prepare to honor the Creator by learning how to keep unwrapping that gift.

 My granddaughter, Zoe, and I have a tradition of spending time wrapping presents together, beginning in October. So, wrapping gifts that will soon be unwrapped becomes a significant part of my year during this time.

 The women in our family also try to have lunch as often as possible, especially during the 12 days of Christmas. I love watching and seeing how gifted each of them is, especially with the gift of love.

As we meet with spiritual friends, we cannot help but imagine how we unwrap that gift of the Christ Child in ourselves and each other. As spiritual friends, we have the privilege of watching and waiting for the excitement of Christmas morning with each other. When some realize Christ is in them, they excitedly unwrap the present, almost tearing the paper apart. Others unwrap the gift slowly and cautiously.

We, as observers, also receive a gift, for the gift of the Christ Child is too powerful to keep and must be shared. Our spiritual friends help us unwrap the gift within ourselves as they share the gift in them.

Each experience is unique, but the gift is continually offered to all of us by the One whose name is Love.

Joanna https://www.joannaseibert.com/