Epiphany

We arrived home from Haiti on Epiphany, which marks the journey of the wise men to the Christ-child, and their finding God’s glory in such an unexpected place. The journey of these wise men, and their paying homage to him in the manger, is the culminating event of the Christmas season. It seemed like such a fitting ending to such a beautiful, rich time in Haiti…a place where we always experience God’s love and glory in unexpected ways. Our hearts are sad to be home.

I am always amazed by how loved I feel in Haiti. It’s not that I don’t feel loved here in the States, I do—and I have such a beautiful life here. But Haiti somehow puts everything under a magnifying glass and blows it up 100-fold. I know Haiti is not perfect, I do not have any illusions about what it would be like to live there day to day, but at the same time my heart fills with gratitude for the simple gracious gifts of love and friendship that are always extended to me there.

I am also aware that being in Haiti opens me up to God in a different way. Perhaps it’s because I am watching and waiting differently there; but it just seems easier to see and to know that God is at work in this world, that his kingdom is advancing. Maybe it’s because I get to hold so many babies-fresh from the arms of God, maybe it’s the simple graces extended: Grandma Rosemond making me rice and beans everyday, Andrema’s laughter and desire to help us in any way, with anything…community is not optional but essential there. But something in those moments breathes life and hope and faith into my tired soul, and rises like a star into the dark night sky. Even now, my eyes fill with tears remembering the goodbyes we said to so many dear friends…and it makes me long for the day when there will be no more goodbyes.

Ruth Haley Barton reflects on Epiphany with these words:
“The journey of the wise men speaks to us of those moments when we are not satisfied to hear other people’s reports of mysterious revelations. Yes, we have heard news that Christ has come into the world but hearsay is not enough: we want to see and experience him for ourselves! This desire can, if we let it, open up a new kind of journey—one that is alive with the possibility of encountering the mystery of Christ in the unlikely places of our own lives. We, too, can make choices to leave the familiar and follow the Light that is rising in our own hearts, leading us to that place of great joy.”

And I pray, that as this new year unfolds—so full of possibility and potential--that we will open up our hearts and our lives to this kind of journey, one that is open and alive…That we will look for and find God in the unlikely and unexpected places in our own lives.

"Beckoning God—
who called the rich to travel toward poverty,
the wise to embrace your folly,
and the powerful to know their own frailty;
who gave strangers
a sense of homecoming in an alien land
and to stargazers
true light and vision as they bowed to earth—
we lay ourselves open to your signs for us…
Rise within us, like a star,

And make us restless

Till we journey forth

To seek our rest in you."
Kate Compston, Bread of Tomorrow