Scripture Study

The Mission of Epiphany

Before I wrote this column, I did not know much about the religious celebration of Epiphany. I had some idea about the secular version of epiphanies, those sudden insights that are triggered by insignificant and every-day events that appear for no reason we can figure out.

Universalist Church Brochure Photo 1 OptimizedWhen I think of epiphanies, I think of a time I was seeing my spiritual director, and she said the word “universe.” All of a sudden, I had a vision of the universe inside her heart, and I understood the universe didn’t really have any spatial dimensions. I realized that space, and time, too, were made up in our minds. If we could get past our limited view of reality, we could cross the distance we call a universe in one step.

What I got out of that epiphany was not only that the universe could fit in our hands, if we had someplace to stand while holding it, but also that space, time, our separate bodies – these are all illusions. At core, we are all one, because there isn’t any this or that, us or them.

Although most days I forget that truth, I have good days when that knowledge actually impacts how I behave.

That is probably what you’d call a spiritual epiphany. Many of the famous epiphanies were scientific ones, like Newton’s sudden understanding of gravity, or Archimedes’ insight that led to his inventing a way to measure the volume of a mass.

I also think of Helen Keller, whose illness at the age of three left her deaf and blind. You probably know that famous scene where her teacher was pouring water over her hand and signing the letters for water into her palm at the same time, when suddenly Helen realized that her teacher was trying to communicate with her. I’d call that an epiphany, as well.

We could say a lot more about these secular insights, but I was really interested in learning something about the religious Epiphany.

I learned that Epiphany is celebrated by Western Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestants, though not by Baptists or Unitarian Universalists. The word “epiphany” comes from the Greek and means “manifestation,” which I guess is why Christians adopted that term for that moment when Jesus was understood to have been an incarnation, or manifestation, of God. Because this religious Epiphany is about the realization that Jesus was the Christ or Savior.

Although many Protestants start celebrating Epiphany on the twelfth day of Christmas (January 6), and continue to do so until Ash Wednesday (which can be a month or more later), Eastern Orthodox celebrate Epiphany on January 19 because that’s when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, which made it known to the world that Jesus was God’s son.

What do people do during Epiphany? Well, the Evangelical Lutheran church, and perhaps other Christian groups, focuses on the mission of the church. The mission of Christian churches is to spread the truth that Jesus is our savior. We Unitarian Universalists generally don’t take on that particular mission.

But this idea of mission is something I can get behind.

What would be our Unitarian Universalist mission? Looking at our principles, we might say our mission is to honor every person; promote peace, justice, compassion, and equity; search for truth; foster democracy; and nourish the interdependent web of all existence. Not a very succinct mission, but you’d be hard-pressed to get Unitarian Universalists to agree on any short, pointed mission statement.

What about the mission of Universalist Recovery Church? Although the board of directors is still wrestling with just what our mission is, I’d say we aim to nurture the spiritual healing of anyone who embraces recovery.

What’s the mission of recovery? You’d get a lot of different ideas about that. For me, today, the mission of recovery is to live true to who we really are. Not true to who our addiction thinks we are, or who we think we are when active in our addiction, but true to the essence of our deep and sacred selves.

Epiphany seems a good time to think about who we really are and what our lives are really about.

I’m not saying God has a plan for us, but I do know that we do exist at least on a macro level. We take up space; our lives touch others even when we don’t realize it. How can we make our existence matter? What mission can we claim for ourselves that can enhance our recovery and be a blessing to the world?

The epiphany I had in my spiritual director’s office has something to do with my life mission, I suppose. After all, I now know a little better that on one level this life doesn’t matter because it isn’t real, and on another level this life matters desperately because our actions and thoughts influence and effect others. All others, everywhere, because there is not here and there. It’s all one.

How should I live if we’re all one? A little more lovingly, a little more patiently, a little more kindly.

That’s my current recovery journey. Learning to listen more, to be more compassionate, and to honor the truth and story of every person, including those who challenge me. Learning to understand their truth, not the truth I would make up for them. And my mission would be to do all that with love.

What is your mission?

May we honor Epiphany by finding a purpose in our lives and refocusing ourselves on that purpose. Blessings for the New Year.

In faith and fondness,
Barbara
January 2014

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