Psalm 46:11
Be
still
then,
and
know
that
I am
God.
This verse is just an instant, a snapshot, a tableau in the events that constitute The Epiph-any, moments that are as eternal as they are transitory. The pause button has been pushed in our hearts, but the story continues.; the stillness and awe of the Magi gives way to rejoicing and gift giving. And then they leave.
I think I have always fundamentally seen the Epiphany, a least emotionally, as an ending, an arrival. Maybe because I’m getting older, maybe because of the recent death of my Dad, maybe because of the bereavement of friends - it’s the first Christmas “after” for us all - but this time around, I see it not as the end, but as a pause, a resting place in a long story - the macrocosmic story of salvation, yes, but also the microcosms of our lives - of Mary herself, of Mary and Joseph together, of the Magi who have been following a star for 2 years. Of you and me.
For the magi and for us this is an end, and also a pause before a new beginning. “Always we begin again.” As with the death of a spouse, that deep wrenching apart of one flesh, what happens now? This part of the journey is complete, but that does make the journey complete, for “life is changed not ended” What comes next? How to orient our lives now that the star has gone?
Being warned in a dream against reporting back to the murderous and scheming Herod, we only know that the magi return home "by another route." And that’s a whole other story. But what became of these first Gentle visitors? What become of the shepherds who first visited this Light made flesh, these first evangelists, these first heralds of the inbreaking of the Kingdom? We never hear the end of their stories. But their stories went on. The sane God who called them with angel songs and stars and dreams, continued speaking, as He speaks to us still. So enjoy the pause but know that God is not finished with us yet.
Be still and know.
