AHA - To be Astonished!

AHA. Tomorrow, January 6 is Epiphany.    

A brief Google search reveals how January 6 is a day of many meanings.

 

In many Christian communities January 6 is celebrated as Epiphany marking the story of the astrologers/wise ones visit with the new born baby Jesus. January 6 marks the last of the Twelve Days of Christmas.

In England, January 6 is known as Twelfth Night, while for my friends from Brazil, a Spanish-speaking country, January 6 is known as Día de Los Reyes, usually translated as Three Kings Day. For Eastern Orthodox churches it is Christmas Eve.

For some people in Germany, Chalking the Door is an Epiphany house blessing ritual, a visible sign of faith and a welcome to all who come through the door.

In parts of Ireland, January 6 marks Nollaig na mBan which translates from Gaelic as Women's Christmas. The idea is that, due to women having done most the work of the holiday season, they get to put their feet up.

In our home January 6 marks the day the Christmas decorations come down. The ornaments are safely wrapped in tissue - the glass ones from my childhood, the jumping jacks from travels afar, the drum, bell and happy face creations of my children, the large ornamental fabric butterflies which once upon a time served as women’s hat decor (originally from Saint John’s Spears Millininery.) Mary, Joseph and the  babe, along with the rest of the stable crew, are safely tucked away into hibernation until next Advent. 

And suddenly our living space becomes much larger. All that remains is the smell of balsam and the persistent tiny green needles that mischievously evade the vacuum for months. 

I find it fascinating how one day can hold so many different meanings depending upon your place in the world. 

When it comes to tradition, for me a cherry-picked approach normally makes sense. While creating new traditions, take the fun rituals and meaningful traditions and leave the offensive stereotypes behind.

Given that in many homes, there is still an enormously unfair gender imbalance in terms of household chores, a day to acknowledge that reality can’t hurt. Still I would work for a day when such traditions were ancient history. 

Perhaps, chalk your door with the numerals of 2023, MMXXIII, as a sign of a warm welcome to all and an opportunity to give a nod to the Holy presence in your midst. At the very least it will serve as a conversation piece.

However you mark January 6, I like the vision of indigenous author Tomson Highway in his book Permanent Astonishment. It is a soul stirring and powerful account of growing up in the sub-Arctic of northern Canada, the eleventh of twelve children in a nomadic, caribou-hunting Cree family, of finding joy and beauty in the everyday. He is permanently astonished at the wonder of life.

While the New Year’s Day tradition of Polar Dips is not in my world, I do admire those willing to take the plunge! 

Without such extreme challenges, surely it is possible to be permanently astonished at the wonder of life in 2023 - like the beauty of the amaryllis in the above photo.

A choice awaits. While not avoiding the brokenness of the world can we be permanently astonished, like Tomson Highway, at the wonder of the world.

If we expect it, if we want it, if we are looking for it, AHA - it is there!

May 2023 be more than business as usual.