Revelations and Epiphany

Today, January 6th, is Epiphany, the 12th day of Christmas, the day when traditionally the church remembers the wise men visiting Jesus and presenting their gifts.

‘Epiphany’ comes from the Greek word meaning ‘to reveal’; the baby Jesus was ‘revealed’ to the world. It was a revelation…

An ‘Epiphany’ is a moment of sudden, profound revelation, realisation, insight or understanding…

Revelations on last night’s news included…

…Revelations from court documents released regarding Jeffrey Epstein. Famous names… Bill Clinton, Michael Jackson, and Leonardo DiCaprio were mentioned. They focused on Prince Andrew’s involvement and the possible repercussions…

…Revelations regarding the new ‘star’ Luke Littler, the 16-year-old unknown who reached the final of the world darts championship, earning £200,000. There was speculation concerning his future…

…Revelations concerning Storm Henk – flooded homes, fields and roads, the amount of rain the country has had over the past few months and the damage that has been caused. There were gloomy predictions about climate change and future flooding.  

…Revelations regarding the prosecution of more than 700 sub-postmasters between 1999 and 2015. We heard more about convictions and wrongful imprisonment based on information from a faulty accounting system.

…The revelation that a rare Northern Waterthrush had been spotted in Essex. Crowds gathered to try and catch a glimpse of this small attractive bird.

On the news,– the more dramatic, spectacular or salacious the revelations, the better…

For most of us, most of the time, there are no dramatic revelations; there’s no fresh insight, no epiphany. Life’s quiet and ordinary.

Yesterday I read the ‘I don’t know’ prayer. It’s the opposite of epiphany.

‘I don’t know where to go from here. I don’t know what is happening. I don’t know how to process this. I don’t know what to do with these emotions. I don’t know how to handle this situation.’

And then?

‘With whatever dusty little sand grain of faith you have, you say, ‘But You Know’. And you leave it there.‘

This morning I’m more ‘I don’t know’ than ‘epiphany’.