Cycles of Newness

Christmas Day is past. Bank accounts look empty after weeks of shopping. Corporations scramble to maximize profits as fourth quarter earnings are due. The tax man cometh. Depending on how the election went, your neighbor may be planning their move to Canada (or Russia!)

I have been looking forward to the twelve days of Christmas, the space between Christ’s Nativity and Christ’s baptism on January 6th. These twelve days are a time of gratitude and joy as we celebrate Christ’s coming into the world. The Divine Light is sleeping in a manger, tucked between ox and ass. A Star announces His arrival to the searching Wise Men, but no herald is sent to the rich and the powerful. He shows no interest in their pursuits. The armies of Heaven could escort Him into Jerusalem but instead “no crying He makes.” Disturbed by this vacuum of grandeur, hundreds of hymns have been written to fill that Holy Silence. While the babe sucks, we celebrate.

On the twelfth day Orthodox Christians celebrate the baptism of Christ, in the East called Theophany, the “appearance of God.” Theophany tells the story of the first time the Godhead appears in Scripture in Matthew 3; the Spirit of God descends upon Jesus like a dove as a voice speaks from Heaven, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” On Theophany the church would be filled with Christians carrying lighted candles to celebrate the feast day, hence it became known as the Festival of Lights. On this day in 2017 I held my own candle for the first time during my Chrismation.

It is upon us who continue in this quiet and peaceful course of life that the truth will shine, illuminating the eyes of our soul with its rays.

St. Gregory of Nysa, The Life of Moses, pg.59

Far removed from gift return lines and New Year’s parties lay a course buried under quiet, dazzling angel dust falling from Heaven. The course ends at the Jordan River where the Divine Light waits for any who would make the journey. May his truth illumine the eyes of our souls and heal our hearts.