Journey to an Epiphany – December 29, 2023

December 29, 2023

The Fifth Day of Christmas

The Journey to an Epiphany

When a loved one passes, during the season of Christmas, emotions, feelings, somehow resonate in a different way.  It seems that this time of year magnifies that which we feel, takes us beyond what is considered to be the norm.  And perhaps it is because we are remembering the Incarnation, (“the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form”) (Merriam Webster).  Think on it.  At Christmas we are commemorating The Incarnation, God became human, spirit became flesh.  But we are all spirit, becoming flesh, when we are born upon Earth.  When the time comes to each of us to return Home, then our flesh releases spirit.  Ego ceases to hold its place.  It is energy changing form.  It is all holy, sacred, and sometimes more than we can comprehend fully.  These feelings are with us at this time of year, especially when someone we love makes the passing.  They are flesh releasing, unfolding, opening, returning wholly to spirit.  This alone is cause for celebration.  And we can add to that concept that we can become even closer to that person whom we miss for that very reason.  They have returned to spirit, as we are celebrating Spirit becoming flesh.  It can be a mystery, yet the answer is held, within each of us.

          On this fifth day of Christmas, 2023, the reading I have chosen is from Matthew 2:3-6.

The Reading

December 29, 2023

“When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

⁶ “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.” Matthew 2:3-6