Epiphany remembered
“Arise, shine; for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.”—Isaiah 60:1.
John Harmon Bishop Elect as 14th Bishop of Arkansas, ordained and consecrated today
Epiphany, the revelation, the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles-us, you, and me. Christ is manifested to me almost sensuously at Epiphany. It first happened in the mid-fifties when I attended my first Episcopal service, the Epiphany Feast of Lights. I was around eleven and went to the small Virginia church in my hometown with a boyfriend and his family. I still remember the unfamiliar liturgy, the candlelight, and the haunting mystic melodies. As we walked out of the small-town church on that bitterly cold January night, carrying our candles, we were surprised by the winter’s first snow. I knew that night God spoke most clearly to me through this tradition.
A decade later, I again encountered the beauty of the Feast of Lights at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Memphis, with their choral procession of the costumed wise men bearing their splendid gifts. Soon, we were able to bring the service to Little Rock.
Here in Little Rock at St. Mark’s, we again usually experience Epiphany’s haunting call at their evening service at 6:30 on January 6th. The wise men will visit us again. Our bishop often celebrates, and there frequently is a guest preacher. Recently, it was the minister of Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church, Dr. John Robbins. There will be a choir and candlelight recessional out of the church into the dark night, which is always breathtaking. I watch the beautiful, often familiar faces of those walking ahead of me. Their expressions seem to ask, “What will we encounter next in the night? Will this light be enough for me to see?” This service empowers us to think about carrying our small candle out into the world. As the candlelight service concludes, we realize we can only see our path because of the light from so many others before, beside, and behind us.
The service should also be available online through St. Mark’s Facebook page.
I encourage those at home to have a candle by you during the service. The candle will remind all of us of Christ, the light of the world, still reaching out to us at both good and challenging times.
I would love to hear what new epiphanies come to you during this epiphany season that is so different. As the angel told the wise men in a dream, “We will be going home by a different road.”
May this new year be full of many epiphanies on new roads for you and those you love.
This year at Saint Mark’s, the wise men will appear at the Sunday service at 10:30 on January 7th. We will not have the usual Epiphany service on January 6th, due to the ordination and consecration of John Harmon as the next bishop of Arkansas on the Feast Day of Epiphany. This will also be a beautiful service. Instead, we welcome prayers for him and our diocese on that day especially.
Ed Seward