We Are the Epiphany We Seek
Grounded and Expansive Wisdom for Turbulent Times
This season is known as the Epiphany, and it is the cosmic story of what God is doing in our midst, individually and collectively.
As a refresher, the story of the Magi, from the Gospel of Matthew, describes how unknown and unnumbered wise ones come from the East following a star, offering significant gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the Jewish infant, Jesus. Motivated and moved by this wondrous sign, the Magi traveled a great distance, stopping in Jerusalem to ask King Herod where to find the child, assuming he, too, would be a wise one waiting and watching. Unfortunately Herod was a shallow man, waiting and watching only for potential threats to his tenuous power, on loan from the Roman Emperor, and the Magi, after paying homage to Jesus in Bethlehem, are warned in a dream to go home by another road.
This new star resonated so profoundly it prompted them to offer their whole lives to seek what it meant, offering significant gifts, daring risky travel, venturing far beyond anything familiar to be part of what was unfolding. What, exactly, inspired the Magi to offer so much, transcending cultural boundaries with generosity and love?
Before discovering the remarkable star in the sky, the Magi immersed themselves in reading, listening, and observing signs, actively cultivating wisdom, Sophia in Greek. This perennial stream integrates factual knowledge with experience and intuition.
Found at the heart of all great spiritual teachers, traditions and movements, true wisdom is grounded in humility, love and generosity, and brings greater harmony within humans, between humans and with the larger natural universe. Wisdom is the wholehearted commitment to the transformation of consciousness of human beings.
Many of us have dedicated significant resources to our education, our physical bodies and our emotional well-being, all of which is important. And yet, none of those help us cultivate a connection to our soul, the truest, eternal part of ourselves. This essential self is larger than our ego based self. It is our deepest reality, despite any and all conditions to the contrary. Here we know without a doubt we are loved and we are love, that nothing is missing anywhere, that we are connected to the oneness inherent in all that is the really real. When we live from this part of ourselves, we are more grounded in what truly matters, allowing us to be more present to ourselves, those around us and to our hurting world.
Wisdom expands our ability to see, causing us to act in unexpected ways rooted in peace, hope, generosity, joy and love. It inspires the Magi of all space and time: the courageous ones fighting massive wildfires, anyone standing up against lies and bullies and all those daring to dream of a human community cherishing difference while working together in harmony for the good of all. It won't come by doing things the same old way. We'll need to finding new ways of being in this world, drawing on our intuition to weave ancient wisdom with our current experiences, working together to share insights. In the end, I believe our own embodiment of wisdom will be judged by our generosity and love.
Below I share what this all means for us, especially in these turbulent times. I hope you’ll join me. With love and grace,
Elizabeth
Ilia Delio writes, “there it is: science revealing that everything is both matter and energy/spirit co-inhering as one; this is a Christocentric world. This realization changes everything. Matter has become a holy thing and the material world is the place where we can comfortably worship God just by walking on matter, by loving it, by respecting it. The Christ is God’s active power inside of the physical world. [4]
Ilia Delio, The Unbearable Wholeness of Being: God, Evolution, and the Power of Love (Orbis Books: 2013), 24-25.