Daily Epiphany

I am not sure if boxing up Christmas decorations is anyone’s favorite task.  I am always eager to open the boxes of time honored festive garlands and nativities, and never pleased to pack them away again.  There is no rule in our house for when the “greens” should come down, yet it seems that enjoying them until Jan 6^th, or Epiphany, has become our practice.  As Advent is marked by the expectation and anticipation of preparing to celebrate the coming of the Christ child, Epiphany claims its meaning as “to show, to reveal, to make known.”  In Western churches, it remembers the coming of the wise men bringing gifts to visit the Christ child, who by so doing "reveal" Jesus to the world as Lord and King.  The word is broadened in its nature as it is also defined as “an intuitive grasp of reality through something (as an event) that is usually simple and striking.  It can be the sudden comprehension of the meaning of something.”  History records that Albert Einstein was struck as a young child when given a compass…..he realized that some unseen force in space was making it move.  It is dramatic to science what that epiphany came to be.

When the last of the decorations are removed, what I see is a naked sort of starkness.  Gone are the reminders of family celebration and fellowship with friends and in their place is an unadorned plainness.  Initially, it appears a little too straightforward, without the ribbons and greenery enhancing the effect. However, our eyes soon become accustomed once again to the familiar and we settle in to what is known.  

After a little more than three weeks of emphatic reprieve from the interferon (such a marvelous gift!), the injections began again.  The side effects have returned gradually, and now seem to be in their full swing again.  Although the onslaught feels somewhat harsh, I pray that the rhythm of the days and my body’s reaction to the treatment will settle again into a familiar pattern. There is a temptation to whine about the deep discomfort and headache that take their toll, momentarily overlooking the “living hope” that has not faded nor failed over these last many months.  The beautiful epiphany of remembering, knowing, trusting, that we do “not pin our hopes (our desires and longings) on things that are in the world, but instead pin our hopes and desires on God” is an intuitive Truth. I miss feeling well, the clear mind and energy.  But as the garlands of physical capabilities are removed, the absolute inheritance remains. God may appear to be an unseen force, but He is everywhere that I see.

I think Peter said it best…..both translations convey the incorruptible reality of what the Magi came to reveal, and what is revealed repeatedly on this journey!
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials…”


What a God we have!  And how fortunate we are to have him, the Father of Christ Jesus!  Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in Heaven – and the future starts now!  God is keeping careful watch over us and the future.  The Day is coming when you’ll have it all: life healed and whole.  I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. (1 Peter 1:3-6)

Thank you, thank you, thank you, for the prayers and care that keep that Truth a focal point and comfort!

The Gift

CHRISTMAS!  It is here.  An abundance of memories, tradition, family gatherings, brightly lit trees, the mixed aromas of baking & evergreen, opening & sending cards, gifts.  When the boys were young, we would set aside a day when we would go as a family to buy gifts for one another. The day was special, as it always included the rare treats of dinner out, a movie together, driving around looking at Christmas lights, & the trip to the elaborately decorated mall & dept store where the “elves” would help the boys find just the right gift for everyone. ($5 limit!)  One year, as we drove home, it began to snow, (this was Tennessee, and snow in Dec was an exceptional delight!).  We stopped at the local college, where a massive evergreen tree was brightly lit.  It was very quiet, the snow falling in fat flakes, the ground & trees being quickly transformed into a landscape of white. Drawn to the base of the tree, under the tall branches, the wonder of lights & snow filtering through the fir, we were enchanted.  We sang Christmas carols, (and we do not sound like the von Trapp family!) but it was an exclusive moment.  The gift of the evening was amplified when, a week later, David brought home a picture he had drawn in school of the tree, the snow, the lights, the four of us.  He had been asked to illustrate the best gift he had received.

I received a tremendous gift two weeks ago.  Due to an allergic reaction to the Interferon (think: thousands of mosquito bites begging to be scratched!) my oncologist recommended we stop the treatment for a few weeks.  My first reaction was disappointment; somewhat counter-intuitive, I suppose.  The thought that the last three months of treatment & its outcome would be diminished if interrupted was overcome by the sudden realization that I was being given a GIFT.  Three splendid weeks of no side effects! Though this reaction has not been without challenges, the contrast of feeling energetic, clear headed, and WELL is remarkable.  Three weeks, at Christmas, feeling great……it has GOD written all over it.

God is in the business of giving gifts.  From Genesis to Revelation, His Word overflows with the testimony of His generous nature. Beyond reading it, I know it …..being a recipient of His profuse outpouring of blessings & gifts.  “Every generous act of giving and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father who made the heavenly lights, in whom there is no inconsistency or shifting shadow.”  His gifts spring from the unchanging, unconditional  love that is synonymous with His name. 

I’ve thought a lot about gifts lately…..the kind expressions of care that have arrived, without asking, to our home over these past many months.  The consideration & compassion from which they stem has overwhelmed Chip and me.  It is the love, the thought, the message behind the gift that touches us in an unforgettable way.  

My niece, Lacey, gave from her heart.   When she was a young teen, she was in the car with her mother when they approached a red light.  There, on the corner, was a homeless man: unshaven, dirty, asking for money.  Lacey asked my sister if they could please stop.  Pulling over to the curb, reaching for a few bills, she watched as Lacey took the money, walked over to the beggar, and put it in his hands.   Then Lacey stepped towards the man, put her arms around him & hugged him.  It was a gift from her heart, & the love behind it is indelible. 

CHRISTMAS!   It is here.  It IS the celebration of the birth of Christ…..God’s greatest gift, from His heart of love.  The well known verse, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, so that you and I would not perish, but have eternal life.”  (Jn 3:16)  “Eternal life, the gift of God  in Christ Jesus, “  as Paul states,  is offered at the excruciating  cost of His Son.  The smallness of my mind cannot comprehend a virgin birth, God in human form, His resurrection, nor eternity.   But my heart & mind receive and grasp it in the gift of faith.  

  

Next week,  the Interferon injections will resume, yet the received gift & the love behind it is clear, &  I celebrate this Christmas, grateful, humbled, & joyful for the God who brings such a gift….& eternally more.  MERRY, BLESSED CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

Whispers

Strains of Mozart, mingled with centuries old carols and Church bells fill the frosty air of Austrian Christmas markets.  Dating from the Middle ages, the traditional Advent markets, festive with thousands of lights, lovely aromas of roasting chestnuts, gingerbread, and spicy hot gluhwein, create a calmly enchanting atmosphere.  Wandering through the avenues of radiant booths, there is an enveloping  lack of frenzy.  (Well, maybe that is the gluhwein!)   Advent, which means “coming” or “arrival,” focuses on the celebration of Christ’s birth, the “first advent,” while anticipating His return. Wandering through the Baroque markets, there is a perceptible tranquility of that expectation and preparation permeating the atmosphere. It is a lovely “stillness.”

The chestnuts and gluhwein are unfortunately missing, but my habitation is currently a stillness that I am learning to embrace.  The challenge to locate gaps of motionless time is too familiar to me, and no doubt, the allure of multi-tasking will always be at hand.  However, immobility has brought a refreshing refinement of being Still.  The process of simple thinking has been affected by the Interferon, as well as energy and physical abilities, yet furnished in their stead is a cherished calm.  The freedom of letting go and living squarely in the moment is energizing in itself! 

“This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel says: In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.”   Within the benefit of stillness, “settling down in complete dependence,” arrives.  The aspects of busyness to which I am drawn, are traded for finding the fullness of God in the quiet.  The gift of gripping that truth more firmly is timely…….as the frenetic pace of Christmas arrives.  The voice of “Advent” is instead amplified, and I am reminded of how God speaks to us.  “ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind.  After the wind was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn’t in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper.” ( 1 Kings 19:11-12.)     Quiet is not an empty place; it holds out the fullness of “Immanuel,” God with us, as the stillness offers the gift of His presence and the great love that He whispers to our hearts. I am so grateful for this time that conveys the silence to hear them!

Meanwhile, conversation is returning, & exquisite times with granddaughters, family and friends have been a vital part of these past couple of wks and will greet the wks ahead.   It is a superb time to be still and thank God for dear ones that surround us!