Epiphany 2012

I am just returning from a electronic holiday during the Christmas Season. I have been celebrating Christmas from December 9 to January 9 (Epiphany ususally) since the 1980's. It is always a wonderful experience to stay with the birth of Christ celebrations past the usual brouhaha of our commercial tributes. I love all the hoopla and sort out those who are stuck in Saturnalia type celebrations from those that are blessed.

Epiphany is the old church, the Eastern Churches, the Orthodox Churches. My father's family traces its roots back to pre-Christian times and these churches sometimes show themselves more to me at Christmas and Pasha (Easter). I especially love when the Russian Orthodox Church began to publicly celebrate Christmas after the fall of communism. I have had friends int the Greek Orthodox and Serbian Orthodox and Catholic Orthodox Churches who have shared their Julian Calendar systems and rituals and customs with me. So it is with joy that I keep my tree up and my adoration of the baby Jesus scene, and even St. Nicholas but take down all my lights and wreaths that display outside to the world. My observance is personal and deepens within my home as Epiphany approaches.

This year is the year of books for me. My 2 publishes books will become ebooks and available on all readers and my new manuscript will be an ebook as well. The end of the war in Iraq is a great celebration of Epiphany as well, since the Magi probably came from the area of Iraq. I am a gentile in this world of new and old testaments and I feel the wonder of 2 celebrations, the Dec. 24-25 observance to convert the pagans in Saturnalia and changes all time for the Western world to the Roman Christian calendar and Epiphany which crosses over to the old calendar and marks the first converts probably to Christianity from the gentile world. These 3 leaders were some of the wisest men in the world at that time! They were smart enough to not return to the psychopath, King Herod's palace after visiting our Lord Jesus and his family, smart and thoughtful to give them gifts and intuitive and honest to warn them of the criminal King's evil intentions.

God selected 3 very wise men  from outside the Jewish faith, who were called Magi and were kings to adore his Son. That they knelt in a cave at a manger, placed very valuable gifts before Him, and warned His family to keep safe gives us a light as to the majesty of our Father in Heaven and the amazing command of His Son on earth.

It is still a time of gift giving and receiving. The gifts might not always be in the material world or obvious. It is also a time when prayers are heard and answered quickly.