Today, on the 12th Day of Christmas, we have arrived at Epiphany Eve. Another important night on our journey, though I never have quite known what to do with the three kings in the story. The tale of three wise kings sounds too much like a fairytale from former times, but, on the second view, it may hide deeper wisdom. Dont’t we all know wannabe kings who do not rest until the world bows before them? Much rarer are the real kings who courageously humble themselves to bow before a higher truth. Therefore I like that the kings of Epiphany are supposed to be wise kings. How urgently we need wise leaders in this world, don’t you think? Wise (wo)men, who honor giving birth and travel far to visit a child. If all the kings of this world would cherish wisdom, and journey long to find the Divine in a child, and then bow down deeply in front of a poor family in a stable, bringing sacred gifts instead of war, Christmas would become alive again.
So let me take you on a journey one last time. Here are three things which came to my mind, pondering the Epiphany story this morning, sitting on my mother in law’s front porch, letting my eyes wander through her lush Florida garden, while feeding my baby child:
The travel
Whoever has been traveling with us through the 12 Days of Christmas has probably experienced it. The Christmas story is a story of travel. And as daily travel tires you out, and makes your feet hurt and your mind wander, so too does journeying into the Christmas story. Still we are on the way seeking the Divine. And already, each day of doing so, there were some hints of it: Practicing the presence of God, seeing through the eyes of a child, pausing and reflecting at the threshold to the new year, cradling the Divine within us, tending to our sorrows; and you can add to it what you have come across on the way.
The holy family was traveling, too, becoming strangers in another land, in need of shelter and the kindness of the locals. As we were traveling with the holy family in our hearts, we were hoping the story would reveal some deeper meaning for our life’s journey. The shepherds were also traveling, in the middle of the night, “foolish” enough to listen to the message of an angel choir. And then there are the three kings, who followed a star. What news would that make in our media age? It seems leaders following money or other worldly goods make for better news than wise (wo)men following a star on less traveled roads.
Yesterday we traveled from Minnesota to Florida. We left our Christmas angel behind on our house altar, deciding to postpone our family Epiphany until we come back. So we did not close the doors of the angel, holding the nativity scene. It still awaits our return. Fortunately we did not travel on a donkey’s back, but in a fast bird, flying through the sky. Baby Hannah was astonished at it. How exciting such travel becomes, if we only take the time to look at it through the eyes of a child. Traveling with a baby makes you depend on the kindness of strangers. Those who offer their seats, so we can sit together as a family, and those who offer the nursing mother some space, and nourishing food and water. Baby Hannah was giving her cutest smiles and giggles in return, while we watched grace unfolding: stressed out travelers smiled back, opened up and told us their child stories.
How we travel has changed over the ages but stays in some ways the same: We must leave our home and our comfort zone and trust ourselves to the way ahead. We never know fully what will happen on the way and end up always surprised. And though we have a goal for our travel we do not know for sure if and how it will welcome us. But if we trust ourselves to the journey and the sacred encounters on the way, each travel changes us.
The wise (Wo)men
And what to do with the three kings? They are at least not traveling for their own sake and glory. In fact, they are traveling to find the King eternal, born in a little child. If we travel with them on desert roads we must do some serious resorting of what matters, of what holds king-like status in our own lives, then make place for the Divine within us. To do the 12 Days of Christmas we had to reset our priorities, too. Giving up on application writing, looming deadlines, cleaning and shopping, we had hoped to squeeze into spare time. We had more important things to do. To trust ourselves to the journey, to write and to share what we encountered on the way.
May be the wise kings stand for all women and men who let go of whatever status they have to protect and important work they have to do to follow the inner spark to seek wisdom instead. With Sophia, wisdom, the women enter the picture. The feminine drive to integrate and seek deeper meaning is not born out of lack of knowledge, but the need of taking what we learn to heart, just as Mary did. Embodying such attitudes is not a woman thing. Making place for Sophia is part of our all journey.
Mary’s song.
Pondering Mary’s wisdom brings me back to Mary’s song, the magnificat sung at every Benedictine evening prayer. It is Mary’s take on the song of Hannah from the old testament, all of which bears great meaning for us. When Mary sings this song receiving the blessing of her sacred pregnancy she bows down before Divine mystery, just as the wise men do when they arrive at the manger. So here is my take today on Mary’s song and I invite you to sing along with me in your heart:
My soul proclaims the greatness of God
and my spirit rejoices in the healer eternal
who has done great things for mewho brings down the powerful from their thrones
and lifts up the lowly
who blesses the poor with marvelous things
and sends the rich away emptywho brings kings to their knees
and sanctifies the stable
in which the Divine seeks to be born
Oh come, Emanuel, God with us,
take shelter in my humble stable
fill my heart with your glory
and lead me to wisdom eternal.May it be so. For you. For me. For all who seek. Amen.
AF 1/2020
