Happy Epiphany, Twelfth Night, Little Christmas, Coming of the Kings Day, to all of you! May the brightness of the star that led the Magi blaze in your lives, and may God’s many truths bless your minds this year. I asked that we reflect on the question of how we see the light coming into our lives, because I think, for many of us, 2017 was a rather dark year. But we have faith that 2018 will be brighter, and already I can see some signs of that. That’s the point of Christian faith, right? To not get stuck in the Crucifixion, but to always look for the Resurrection, to never doubt God’s love, but to always seek a way to feel and share it.
Light definitely entered my life in a new way this week, literally. Perhaps some of you shared these experiences. Did any of you see the Supermoon? How about the sun pillars? Did you see the sun pillars? I didn’t know what they were at first. The first time I saw one, was at sunrise, and, besides some really beautiful colors, I saw a bright band of light, the width of the sun, extending from the horizon all the way up into the sky. Did anybody else notice this? Now, some of you may know all about sun pillars, but I had never seen one before. I wondered if there was something wrong with my eyes, or my glasses. It was so beautiful, this gorgeous wide beam of light, shining straight up from the sun. Then I saw it two times more, these times as the sun was setting. That same bright column of light. So beautiful! I knew my eyes were not deceiving me now, but I still didn’t understand what it was.
Until two days later, on the internet, there was an article on sun pillars. Then I knew what I had seen! The article explained that a sun pillar is a phenomenon that happens in very cold weather, from light refracting off hexagonal plate-like ice crystals falling horizontally through the air. There was a photo, which matched exactly what I had seen.
Light is something we often understand first through our senses, I think, or our feelings, or our spirits, long before we understand it intellectually, just as happened to me with these sun pillars. Because light, like love, and art, and animals, and so many other elements of life, are of God, and I believe God reaches out to us through many other routes than just the intellect. This is the wisdom of the mystics, right? That we are all made in the image of God, that we are all One in God, and that the only separations are those we impose on ourselves. We can know God through every cell of our bodies, every molecule of air, and every beam of light. And also through liturgy, and community, and theology, and philosophy, of course.
The story we read from Matthew’s Gospel today had many elements that were hard to understand intellectually, especially for the Jewish Christian audience to which it was first addressed, I’m sure. Like why is the Messiah portrayed as a child of poverty, instead of a child of an elite political or military or religious family? Why was this couple of questionable reputation chosen to be the Messiah’s parents? And why is his coming announced to Herod’s court and the Jewish Temple hierarchy by these foreign, non-Jewish, astronomers? We get the idea from the account of the very beginning of Jesus’ life that things will not be as we expect, and that inclusion of all will be an important characteristic of the Way Jesus teaches. This idea of inclusiveness, of the salvation of all the nations, is echoed of course, in the first reading, from Isaiah, which proclaims, “Rise up, Jerusalem, your light has come… Nations shall walk by your light… they all gather and come to you.” And the reading from Ephesians states clearly Paul’s teaching that Jesus’ message is for all, Jews, Christians, and Gentiles.
Edith Wharton said, “There are two ways of spreading light: To be the candle, or the mirror that reflects it.” God’s light, and wisdom, and love, is always streaming into our lives. So how do we perceive it? And do we reflect God’s light to others, by our following Jesus’ directive to be inclusive, to make sure all are made part of his Body? Can we be mirrors for others?
I’d like to hear your reflections on how you see light coming into your lives.
Light definitely entered my life in a new way this week, literally. Perhaps some of you shared these experiences. Did any of you see the Supermoon? How about the sun pillars? Did you see the sun pillars? I didn’t know what they were at first. The first time I saw one, was at sunrise, and, besides some really beautiful colors, I saw a bright band of light, the width of the sun, extending from the horizon all the way up into the sky. Did anybody else notice this? Now, some of you may know all about sun pillars, but I had never seen one before. I wondered if there was something wrong with my eyes, or my glasses. It was so beautiful, this gorgeous wide beam of light, shining straight up from the sun. Then I saw it two times more, these times as the sun was setting. That same bright column of light. So beautiful! I knew my eyes were not deceiving me now, but I still didn’t understand what it was.
Until two days later, on the internet, there was an article on sun pillars. Then I knew what I had seen! The article explained that a sun pillar is a phenomenon that happens in very cold weather, from light refracting off hexagonal plate-like ice crystals falling horizontally through the air. There was a photo, which matched exactly what I had seen.
Light is something we often understand first through our senses, I think, or our feelings, or our spirits, long before we understand it intellectually, just as happened to me with these sun pillars. Because light, like love, and art, and animals, and so many other elements of life, are of God, and I believe God reaches out to us through many other routes than just the intellect. This is the wisdom of the mystics, right? That we are all made in the image of God, that we are all One in God, and that the only separations are those we impose on ourselves. We can know God through every cell of our bodies, every molecule of air, and every beam of light. And also through liturgy, and community, and theology, and philosophy, of course.
The story we read from Matthew’s Gospel today had many elements that were hard to understand intellectually, especially for the Jewish Christian audience to which it was first addressed, I’m sure. Like why is the Messiah portrayed as a child of poverty, instead of a child of an elite political or military or religious family? Why was this couple of questionable reputation chosen to be the Messiah’s parents? And why is his coming announced to Herod’s court and the Jewish Temple hierarchy by these foreign, non-Jewish, astronomers? We get the idea from the account of the very beginning of Jesus’ life that things will not be as we expect, and that inclusion of all will be an important characteristic of the Way Jesus teaches. This idea of inclusiveness, of the salvation of all the nations, is echoed of course, in the first reading, from Isaiah, which proclaims, “Rise up, Jerusalem, your light has come… Nations shall walk by your light… they all gather and come to you.” And the reading from Ephesians states clearly Paul’s teaching that Jesus’ message is for all, Jews, Christians, and Gentiles.
Edith Wharton said, “There are two ways of spreading light: To be the candle, or the mirror that reflects it.” God’s light, and wisdom, and love, is always streaming into our lives. So how do we perceive it? And do we reflect God’s light to others, by our following Jesus’ directive to be inclusive, to make sure all are made part of his Body? Can we be mirrors for others?
I’d like to hear your reflections on how you see light coming into your lives.
RSS Feed
