Sisters and Brothers in Christ

Here we are in the season of "an appearance or apparition of a deity or other supernatural being" according to Webster. So in this season of Epiphany how do you think the Deity will appear to you? Often human spiritual vision is blurred by expectation. If God is going to be made manifest then surely the special effects will rival anything George Lucas could come up with.

In talking about miracles Noah benShea’s Jacob the Baker says, "A miracle is often the willingness to see the common in an uncommon way." The same applies to the appearance or apparition of the Deity. Surely if God suddenly appeared to me it would have to be in a burning bush, a pillar of fire, or at the very least with thunderbolts flashing and thunderclaps crashing.

Jelaluddin Rumi points out the fruitlessness and blindness of such expectations:

We search for Him here and there
while looking right at Him.
Sitting by His side we ask,
"O Beloved, where is the Beloved?"

Epiphany is not a challenge for God to all of a sudden appear in our midst in some fantastic manner. Epiphany is a challenge for you and me to be aware of God’s constant Presence and revelation – in the sun coming up, in the squeeze of your hand by your lover, in the spontaneous and exuberant love given freely by your child, in the gentle sound of snow delighting the landscape with new apparel. God is not revealed so much in the uncommon as in the common.

By seeking God in the spectacular God is often missed in the simple grandeur that surrounds you and me everyday. Look around you. What do you see?

Joel t