Happy Epiphany! Such a bright, sunny day—how rare for these parts in winter! How do you plan to celebrate Epiphany?
On Epiphany we remember wandering “wise men” who tracked a star and “followed its glisten and gleam all this way to worship him” (Matthew 2:2, The Voice).
Did you know that the stars are always shining, even in the daytime? It’s easy to forget isn’t it? We need a total solar eclipse to be able to see them, but they are there! Epiphany, with it’s focus on stars, do we have to wait until dark to celebrate?
The word Epiphany literally means to show or to make known or to reveal. It gets this name because the magi had finally reached their long-traveled destination. They were searching for a child, born to be God among us, and they had finally found him! They worshiped Jesus, presented gifts suitable for royalty, and thus revealed to the world that Jesus was a king.
If they were focused on a star, I wonder how the magi navigated during the daylight hours?
Was the star bright enough during the day? Or did they only travel at night? (The Bible doesn’t tell us.)
Was their arrival at our Savior’s doorstep a dark-night happening?
We think of daylight as a time when it is easier to see; to find our way. We label “darkness” as scary and to be avoided.
Can we find comfort in our darkness — the kind that occurs in broad daylight — knowing that the stars are always there?
Light a candle at the dinner table tonight. Think about and discuss ways we can be God’s light helping others along the journey.
Photo credits:
Bright, daylight photo, copyright, from my archives.
A Star in the East, a painting by W. L. Taylor, 1900, in the Public Domain.
Read: Matthew 2:1-2.
Family Faith Companion 