Had an epiphany recently?! The word comes up when we make an exciting discovery or a new realisation dawns on us! And of course, it’s also the season of the church calendar that we’re in - a time highlighting moments when people realised that God’s glory was to be seen in Jesus. The wisemen knelt and worshipped after their long journey of course; but in this season we remember the baptism of Jesus when the Spirit descended, highlighting Jesus’ identity and so, his glory. The conversion of St Paul, following Saul’s epiphany moment, and the turning of water into wine at the wedding in Cana, where Jesus ‘first manifested his glory’, according to John‘s gospel, are also traditionally celebrated during epiphany. I love that the glory of God is all around us manifested in Jesus and seen in the world now through the Holy Spirit’s work. Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem reminds me how even a simple walk is to be transformed by the glory of God all around:
Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.
May we all have eyes to see God’s glory around us - even in mid January (when a blackberry would be a surprise find!)
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