Epiphanytide Resolutions

God-with-us has been revealed . . . now we have to go home a different way.

A Greek Orthodox Epiphany tradition

The themes of light, revelation, and wonder have come up over and over again in our gospel readings and feasts during this season of Epiphanytide, or Ordinary Time, between Christmastide and the start of Lent. Again and again, Jesus is revealed to various audiences: the adoration of the magi, Jesus' baptism, his first public miracle at the wedding at Cana, the calling of the disciples, the conversion of St. Paul (that's a blinding light!), the Presentation in the Temple, where Simeon recognizes Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah, "the light to enlighten the nations."

(If I had to make an Epiphanytide moodboard, I'd include candles, stars, and tons of gold twinkle lights; a wood burning stove, French crepes, Mexican tamales; chalked doorways, polar bear plunges, blank sketchbooks, baptismal gowns, evergreen trees. If the moodboard had a scent, it would smell, by turns, of frankincense and myrrh, freshly fallen snow, my favorite Indian restaurant, and King Cake. It would sound like words of blessing, like a New Orleans jazz trumpet and/or "Bright Morning Star Arisin'" . . . Why not fill in the taste and touch categories on your own!)

Each liturgical season offers us a fresh invitation to participate in the life of Jesus and the church. While making New Year's resolutions sometimes can feel artificial, the drive for a fresh start is quite natural and human, and mirrors several of our Epiphanytide themes: being washed clean in baptism, a fresh start, death to life, darkness to light—by the grace of God in Christ Jesus! Like the magi, how will we live differently, go home a different way, once our eyes are opened to the reality that Love Himself has come to live among us?

The collect for the Third Sunday of Epiphany enumerates (illuminates!) two key ways that our families, households, and communities, can be transformed by Christ's Light:

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ's glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Did you catch them? Word and Sacraments! Rather than forming elaborate spiritual resolutions, let's (simply, peacefully) look at these two elements of life with God—which, you'll notice, delineate the two parts of our Sunday worship service. There are so many ways that we can enjoy the presence of Jesus, but even with the young children in atrium, we notice that Jesus is present with us in a particular way both when we read the Holy Bible, as well as in the wine and bread of the Eucharist.

Word

In the spirit of not overcomplicating things, I just encourage us to consider if we have a Bible that we like to read (individually and/or as a family or household)? Do we have a place for it, hopefully one reflecting that this is our most precious book? This might be a good time to set up a prayer table or similar space in a way that makes sense for your household.

On World Mission Sunday, we're inviting everyone to bring Bibles in different languages for a global show-and-tell, and we'll also have a collection of children's storybook bibles that parents can peruse if you'd like to see what might work well for your family, depending on your own needs and ages (Thank you, Whitney!). These are nice resources and can serve different functions: i.e. a search-and-find book that makes a nice activity while sitting still during the sermon, a book with beautiful illustrations for a child to flip through and "read" on her own, a book that's heavier on text that's nice to cuddle up with to read aloud a chapter at bedtime.

BUT don't get too caught up in finding the "right" one, because we can (and should) simply, reverently, read the actual Bible (this is what we do in atrium!). Last year I re-read Corrie Ten Boom's incredible The Hiding Place and was struck by the non-negotiable family routine of Corrie and Betsie's father reading scripture at the table after dinner. Like, . . . we can just . . . do that. An epiphany for me, haha!

Sacraments

The simple question for us to consider in the "Sacraments" category: are there any practical ways we can make Sundays the best day of the week for our families? Think about worship, rest, and celebration; practicing for heaven! Maybe it's the [easy yet delicious] breakfast that's special for Sundays. Maybe it's a religiously guarded afternoon siesta. Of course, it's worshipping with the church family and being fed and formed by our weekly communion meal, the Eucharist, in which Jesus offers us his whole self.

Baptism is another sacrament that's especially of note during Epiphanytide. On baptism days, particularly your child's baptism anniversary, it's nice to get out your child's baptism candle (or any candle) to light at Sunday lunch or dinner. Look at photos from their baptism day, call the godparents, or ask the godparents to call or write a note. (Cannonball into the YMCA pool, shouting "Remember your baptism!" . . . Too much??)

Soon we'll begin preparations for our greatest celebration of Easter; onto the foundations of Word and Sacrament we'll be layering on the practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving in various ways during Lent. Until then, Epiphanytide invites us to bask in the light, in the Word, in the Sacraments—to quote the collect above, in "the radiance of Christ's glory."