I don’t know about you, but I could use some light of the Epiphany season right now. Things are pretty scary in the news these days – the violent anti-Semitism, the wildfires raging in Australia, the uncertainty of what’s next with Iran and Iraq. I especially wouldn’t mind a nice theophany – a clear and direct message from God, much like the one Jesus and John hear at Jesus’ baptism, “This is my son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17).
A clear and direct word from God to give light in the darkness of our world would be welcome right now. Suzanne Guthrie in this week’s Edge of Enclosure notes, “Epiphany begins and ends with theophany: the heavens opening and the voice of God over the waters of Jordan and upon the mount of Transfiguration, like supernatural parentheses around the very grounded Galilean ministry.”
Which makes me wonder, what are the supernatural parentheses we might be living in right now? Do you feel like you are in the middle of something about to begin? What might God have said to you at the beginning, and what do you imagine will be his word again when you reach the end?
Perhaps being in the middle of spiritual parentheses is finding meaning during the space of transition. Before we receive the light, or understand what the epiphany of our lives might be, we try to make some sense of things as they are now. I know that reading the news moves me to pray for peace, moves me to use my resources to help where I can, and moves me to be a person of peace in all areas of my life. Perhaps my spiritual parentheses right now is discovering how I might be more of a peacemaker in the name of Jesus, the prince of peace, the one who stands at the shore to be baptized by my side, alongside the pain, the fear, the joy of being a human in this world.