Epiphany

January 5, 2025

Brent Mulligan- Revelation Song

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Have you ever heard a troubled friend say, “I feel as if God has abandoned me!”? Here’s a little story about that.

One spring morning, two country kids were walking to school across their local railroad tracks. They had been drilled in the three essential steps before crossing:

STOP, LOOK and LISTEN!

On this particular morning, as they diligently executed these steps, they heard an unexpected, barely audible sound. Four tiny, orphaned ducklings had taken refuge in a gully under one of the nearby ties. The children, in their alert attentiveness, were able to hear the tiny peeps that would otherwise have been missed. They scooped up the ducks and carried them to safety. What an epiphany!

January places us in the season of Epiphany. The word means much more than just “discovery”. It means an unexpected revelation of divine grace within our ordinary circumstances – the Unexpected within the Ordinary.

When the Three Wise Men experienced the Epiphany, it was not just “dumb luck”. They had prepared for that moment throughout their entire lives, just never imagining where they would find it — hidden in a cold stable. Through study, prayer and living good lives, they had perfected the all-important practice: STOP, LOOK and LISTEN to your ordinary life, to what is happening just underneath the surface, underneath appearances, underneath the silence. Allow yourself to be surprised by God!

It is in the life underneath that God waits to be revealed to us every day. The revelation doesn’t come like a loud, anticipated train. It comes in the unexpected whisper we would have missed had we not stopped, looked, and listened to our lives. It comes in the otherwise unspoken need of a friend, in the finally recognized destructive practice or relationship we must change, in the belated act of forgiveness, in the long overdue and grateful acknowledgment of our life as the blessing that it is.

Before we go too far in this New Year, think about this practice. When we feel as if God or the Spirit is not part of our lives, we may not be looking in the right places. Each morning and evening, give yourself at least five quiet minutes to breathe. Put a “reflective stethoscope” to your day, and ask yourself “Where is God hidden in these moments?” If we really STOP, LOOK and LISTEN, eventually, the Epiphany will come!

Music: Listen, Listen, Listen – Robert Gass

Listen, listen, listen to my heart’s song:
I will never forget you, I will never forsake you.

For Your Reflection:

What feelings or reactions do I have after reading this reflection?
Do my feelings or reactions remind me of any passage or event in scripture, especially in the life of Christ?
What actions might I take today because of my response to these readings?