The Journey From Advent to Epiphany

They were wealthy men, these Wise Men.
Busy with home, business and responsibility.
A tractor beam of light drew them away from common earthly life and toward extraterrestrial signs in the sky.

What does it mean? They wondered.
And studied the stars…the very thing that we are made up of.
The dust of Heaven.

These leaders were led,
Led by a passionate desire…A desire to know,
Who is this coming King that heavenly bodies would align as a birth announcement?

Their desire provoked them
drove them, kept them up at night.
Up consulting star charts, figuring how to follow that yonder star.

They prepared a gift
A gift fit for a King. The best of what they had…
Gold, frankincense and myrrh.

And then they left all
All to follow that beacon of light
Nestled in velvety darkness at the hush of a winter night.

Forgetting worries and cares
frets and concerns.
All to find out what It all means. And to present their gift.

Waiting to exhale…breathless
on the edge of their camel seats with anticipation.
Craning, straining their necks to see if The Answer is found around the corner.

And I too, am on that journey
Looking up to the sky I wonder, What does it all mean?
And I study the charts of the prophecies of Old.

I find Him in every Book
Foretelling His coming.
and I am kept up at night with the desire to find Him…to know Him.

I look for the Way
The path toward an epiphany.
The path from Advent to Epiphany.

Epiphany: a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.

An epiphany of Who He is,
and consequently who I am and
Advent is an important piece of the puzzle.

Advent: The coming or arrival, especially of something extremely important

Just as the wise men looked at their astronomical charts,
consulted their maps and packed their camels,
I too, prepare.

I must prepare a gift
Fit for a King.
For a moment I hesitate. What can I give to a King?

My whole life, I’ve been preparing for this.
I’ve held my breath for an unearthly long time. And now, the time has come.
Will I find Him around the bend around the corner?

And they found Him in the most common of places.
A stable. In a manger.
A King. Amidst the ordinary.

For that is an epiphany at its very definition.
An insight found in some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.

And I find Him in the most common of places.
A bench. In a park.
A King. Amidst the ordinary.