Friends

Okay, the Child is born and dwells among us. Where? This is the time of seeking, this is Epiphany. Like the Magi we stand gazing longingly upon a star in the West that proclaims potential and promise to the world.

Gaze at that star for a long time and a miracle happens! It moves from its stellar orbit! Watch! See? It finds its center of potential and promise in a manger prepared in your own heart. Epiphany has happened as the Divine is revealed.

What? In me? In his book, Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers, Thich Nhat Hanh writes, “To love God with all your might, what does it mean? It is this: In your daily life, you have to seek in order to touch the other dimension of your reality, the ultimate dimension, the dimension of God…”

There is a paradox here (of course!). The seeking of Epiphany requires a gathering first. Now we call from the west — regret, from the north — joy, from the south — sadness, from the east — ecstasy. We call all our disparate self to meet in the center of Wholeness. There we touch that dimension that animates us and causes us to shine with the light of pure peace. That is a place of exceptional potential and promise.

Glowing out from the point of God’s touch we can shine forth with the promise of love and the potential to fill this broken world with God’s grace. Glowing out from the point of God’s touch we can unleash the potential of compassion and the promise of respect. Set aglow with God’s manifestation the star shines bright leading others to the manger of sublime peace.

The Child is born and dwells among us, no wait, in us! The manger is in your heart and mine. The promise of God’s potential is measured by the beating of our heart and the breath we take.

Joel t