Marching in the LIght of God

I think I've mentioned this fact before, but I like church holidays. And today is another holiday I GET to talk about. It's Epiphany! A holy day in the church (which if I were in a different place, would involve wearing a white stole and all the church paraments would be white). Ephiphany comes from the greek word "epiphanai" which literally means an appearance or manifestation. And it is the actual 12th day of Christmas (think-- Christmas song that everyone sings but no one really knows all the words to...). But all that gibberish is to say that today is the day when Christians celebrate the light of Christ being in the world.

If you did Sunday school as a kid, maybe the term "Epiphany" sounds familiar to you-- but if you can't quite remember anything about it, let me help you out. Some verses you might have heard in conjunction with this day are "Arise, Shine! For your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you!" or perhaps "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light." But here's what you may not think about: that cute little story in Matthew about the wise men following the star really seems to be more fittingly celebrated at Epiphany.

Lately, the song "We are marching in the light of God" (which I learned while I was in Africa) has been rolling around in my head. The words, simply enough, say "We are marching in the light of God! We are marching in the light of God! We are marching, we are marching-- We are marching in the light of God!" I was thinking about these wise men, and how they really were marching in the light of God.

I mean seriously, they were called out of their comfort zones. I don't know much about the job description of a "wise man", but I would imagine it to be a somewhat "cushy" job (relative to herding sheep or things like that.) I'd imagine that being a wise man didn't usually entail being uprooted and having to travel a long way for a glorified baby shower. But this star, which they are certain is of God, urges them forward-- down an unknown and perhaps dangerous path. They, like the rest of us would, probably have very great questions like "Where am I going?" "How will I get there?"

As I think about them, I wonder which new and different journeys God might be calling me to. I wonder where God sees my resistance, and is calling me to follow his light, trusting it to lead me into the things I have been created to do. I wonder what routines and creature comforts I would have to be willing to forgo to follow God's call. And I wonder who else is asking these same questions-- are you?

Some days, I think my song would better be "I am stumbling towards the light of God" but I trust that God will give me a star to follow-- and the courage to follow it.