Why do we need epiphanies?

Epiphany   7^th January 2024

[Matthew 2:1-12]

An epiphany happens when something new and remarkable is shown to us. Epiphanies are precious, because we live, as it were, in a small circle of darkness. Gradually, as we grow, we use our senses and our mind to push back the darkness. We learn to speak, read and write. We explore any number of exciting new domains. But the more we learn, the more we realise that there is much more “out there” that we do not know, and in moments of deeper reflection we might glimpse the truth that there is an even greater “beyond” containing who-knows-how-much that “we don’t even know that we don’t know”.

It is wise therefore to welcome every new epiphany, being careful to sift them, especially today when some mass media set out deliberately to deceive us, and many individuals are dishonest on social media.

This festival of the Epiphany, originally celebrated twelve days after Christmas, recalls the story of three mysterious “wise ones” who came to visit the child Jesus in Bethlehem. Paying him homage and giving him their gifts, they represent the wisdom and the riches of the mysterious lands of the East. They also represent the hunger of all peoples to learn more about the reality of God, about whom the descendants of Abraham have received their particular epiphanies. Today’s festival shows us, in the person of Jesus, that God has come among us and loves humanity and the whole created world.

On this feast it is also useful to ponder the common mechanism by which we sometimes resist our epiphanies, and refuse to be enlightened. We do this when we are uncomfortable with, or even afraid of change, although change is happening in every moment of our lives. We might actually resist change that is essential to life: particularly when we are challenged to change our minds.

When resisting like this, we often unconsciously go through an interesting process. We “set aside” or ignore information that might show our previous position was wrong and now needs to be abandoned. If we deliberately refuse to look at that information, our actions are perverse and blame-worthy, for when we “set things aside” in this way, we open the door to many kinds of evil. The process is particularly dangerous when we defend the political or religious institution we have inherited from our family, and which we depend upon for our security .

It is vitally important that we search out and break free of such prejudices, and when friends or even enemies point out that in defending our position we are ignoring certain truths, perhaps this epiphany is the most precious of all.

As we set out into 2024, an honest look at the world will show us on what our comfort in one of the world’s wealthiest nations depends. It is built upon violent historic conquests and present deprivation of the majority of the world’s peoples, who live and die in poverty because of our greed and careless waste of resources. Do we really need to consume so much? To spend so much on extravagant fireworks displays and costly military machinery that can be used only to destroy?

Can we seek a new year’s epiphany, by listening to the voices of many young and older people who are urging us to live more simply? It might greatly benefit us if we put aside time to be silent, listening to the Mystery of the unseen God present throughout the cosmos, asking to see more clearly what we are doing to God’s people and this planet.

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