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Meditation from Dean Lindstrom
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 | | Dean Justin Alan Lindstrom |
Our theme for Epiphany is Darkness and Light. This is very appropriate for the season as it is a time when we focus in on the manifestation of God in Christ Jesus as the Light of the World in the context of a world filled with darkness. Two juxtaposing ideas, light and dark, that have meaning for us today.
First, the darkness is a state of being in which we all have been, we all live, and wrestle with all the time. Darkness in its many forms is all around us. Not just in the daily cycle of the sun rising and the sun setting, but in our own emotional and spiritual lives as well. With the extreme busyness of the Advent and Christmas seasons I have found myself in an emotional and spiritual slump...a darkness if you will. I have been here before, it is nothing new, it is a part of my faith journey. The darkness creeps up slowly for me and then without realizing it, it is there and drags me down physically as well as emotionally and spiritually. The Dark Night of the Soul is very real. For some it lasts for hours, for others days, and I have even heard of folks being in the darkness of their faith journey for years. It is in this time that things seem to not connect, the hurt and pain of the world and culture seem to be overwhelming, and the love of God seems very distant. Hope seems to be an ideal that is unattainable. The darkness is very real, it exists and is a part of who we are in our journey of faith.
But, secondly, thank God there is the light, the light of Christ, the love of God, that draws us in to the presence of the Almighty. It is in my dark times that I double down on my prayer life, do more reading, try to eat better, and even exercise more. All these things, for me, help me recognize my need for God in Christ and that the light of Christ is ever present in my life. The distance, the hopelessness, the hurt, the pain, the funk, it all seems to pass or clear through prayer, rest, focus, intentional spiritual disciplines, and sharing with others. The light thrives in community, so when I feel like I really want to withdraw it is in that time that I need to draw myself closer to a community of people for the light to continue to overcome the darkness. Saint Paul's is that community. The light rests in each of us and is shared freely with others through our relationships.
This Epiphany, may the light of God in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ continue to shine in your heart, mind, body, and soul. And in those dark times, may we be reminded of God's loving presence with us and may we discover an illumined path that will draw us continually into the hope and grace of God casting the darkness aside. May we walk this journey together.
God's Peace, |
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Volume II
Number 3
Epiphany 2014
Darkness
and
Light
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Meditation from Canon Joplin
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 | | Canon Susan Colley Joplin |
Epiphany
The word "epiphany" comes from a Greek word meaning "manifestation." The religious celebration of the Feast of Epiphany is often understood as the manifestation of God coming as a brilliant light. That light, the light of God, carries with it a transforming power.
As Christians, we understand the coming of God's light as being made manifest in the person of Jesus. In the Season of Epiphany, as Jesus moves from boyhood to adulthood, we watch God's brilliant light growing in splendor to reach out and touch the world. As the light grows out into the world, it also grows within us.
Our path, in this season, is to allow God's brilliant light to provide for us ever-increasing guidance. Just as a candle sends out a fiery glow, breaking through the dark, we, as Christians, see and experience the ways in which the Light of Christ cuts through and dispels our own dark.
St. Augustine of Hippo, writing from the 4th century, tells of his interior struggle with this. He wanted so much to remain immersed within the light, and he would touch on moments in which he was exhilarated, knowing himself to be in sweet mystic communion with Christ. But then, old habits and patterns would take over and he would find himself ensconced, once again, in the dark of self-centered motivations.
It became a merry-go-round kind of existence in which he found himself powerless, again and again, falling back into the pattern of addictive behavior. He would repent heartily, but that seemed to him to be only a temporary fix.
Finally, one day while in prayer, it came to him to spend more personal energy focusing on the joy brought about during those times when in the Light. When he did this, he felt, increasingly, as though the old habitual patterns of personal dark were loosening their grip on him.
We all experience moments when we know that we are touched by God's light and are being guided by that light. For me, since January, 1987, many of those blessing moments have come about at the beginning of Epiphany season. This was when God provided for me a new beginning, marked by my Confirmation into the Episcopal Church. The freshness of new joy was all around on that cold January day. It was a new beginning. And ever since that new beginning, life, for me, has been changed.
We are blessed, this year, with an extraordinarily lengthy Season of Epiphany. We have a long and luxurious time in which to soak up the Light of Christ. It is the seasonal time for us to re-claim through remembering, the consoling joys that have been ours. It is the time to give thanks for the joy of the light that is available to each and every one of us.
"Arise, shine, for your light has come," calls out the prophet Isaiah. May this time be, for you, a time of gathering up the consolations of God's brilliant light. And may your joy be increased.
Faithfully,
Canon Susan Joplin
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Meditation from Canon Raab
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 | Canon Musician
H. Scott Raab |
Epiphany Epiphanies
We are all familiar with the usual definition of epiphany as a manifestation or a showing forth. I checked with the trusty Roget's Thesaurus for some fresher words might jog my brain. How about: lighning bolt, eye-opener, shocker, revelation, and flash of insight? Do these words not stir in us something a little more vibrant regarding the Epiphany season? The music of Epiphany reflects the teachings of Jesus, his miracles and his ministry. For me, the last Sunday of the Epiphany is the most dynamic. The gospel lesson every year tells the story of Jesus' Transfiguration. The Transfiguration is so important that it also has it's own feastday, August 6. Just as Jesus is called "Son" at his baptism (celebrated on the first Sunday of Epiphany), he is again called "Son" on the Transfiguration (celebrated on the last Sunday of Epiphany). Below is a picture of Mt. Tabor in Israel, the site traditionally associated with the Transfiguration. Whether or not this is the "real" site of the Transfiguration event, it might provide you with an eye-opener, a revelation or perhaps a flash-of-insight.  The 20th century French composer Olivier Messiaen has quite a lot to say about the Transfiguration in his enormous work "La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur J�sus-Christ." The composition occupied him from 1965 to 1969 and the musicians employed include a 100-voice ten-part choir, seven solo instruments and large orchestra. Its fourteen movements are a meditation on the story of Christ's Transfiguration. For a taste (or the whole two hour piece), visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a63loXj_XP4
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Meditation from Kate Huston
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 | Kate Huston,
Director of Christian Education
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Light and Dark
As I was sitting down to think about the theme for this Epiphany and what I was going to write I kept returning to one word - opposites. We encounter so many opposites just in our daily life - light and dark, sunrise and sunset, left and right, good and evil. Encountering opposites can mean different things - they bookend our day, give us a choice or help us organize people and ideas. However, opposites also give us opportunities to stretch our understanding of the world around us. I often have to stretch myself to see the world through my husband's eyes. When we were camp counselors together at Saint Crispin's Summer Camp in college, and had just started dating, we took the Myers-Briggs personality test and came out complete opposites. And I mean.... complete opposites! I am an ISTJ (Introvert, Sensing, Thinking and Judgement). Greg, on the other hand, is an ENFP (Extrovert, Intuition, Feeling and Perception). Not only are we completely different in our personality profiles, but we tend to fall to the extremes in many categories (I vs E and J vs P being the strongest differences). At the time, I remember thinking this was all rather funny but now, almost 13 years later, I've found that being opposites has its distinct advantages and, at times, disadvantages. Learning to anticipate and understand how my husband interprets information, looks at the world and approaches daily tasks is a challenge for me but it has made me a better friend, spouse and partner. Opposites can be a challenge but they also enable us to look at the world around us differently. Just as if you always looked to the west for the sunset but never to the east for the sunrise, do you think you have had the full experience? My Epiphany or 'new way of seeing' this year is going to be to try and celebrate the opposites in my life and to learn from them.
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Meditation from Anne Kueteman
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 | Anne Kueteman,
Director of Evangelism and Cathedral Ministries |
Darkness to Light
On Christmas Day I came down with a cold: my head was ready to explode, my throat was raw and I had a wracking cough. The only glimmer of light was the marvelous Christmas Day service. For me, the next four days were forgettable. I couldn't open my eyes. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't pray. The nights were dark and bottomless. This year dear Andrea bought Christmas cards for the Cathedral bookstore. One card in particular, was Unforgettable. Mother Mary is seen laying flat on the ground next to Joseph, with Baby Jesus sound asleep in His manger nearby. Joseph is wearing an expression of complete and utter exhaustion yet wonderment. Mary has her head tilted to one side and is sleeping the sleep of one who cannot take another step or breathe another breath without rest. Her travels, anxiety and childbirth have consumed her. Her sleep is dark and bottomless. The people of the time before Jesus slept every night with a sleep that was dark and bottomless. Theirs was a life of life and then death. Death was the end. You were put in the ground and your soul died. When a relative died, that was it. You would never see them again. There was no promise of new life, no warmth, no love, no light. Until that wonderful, magical, mysterious Christmas night, when God gave Hope to the world and, if you believed, everything changed. And the Light permeated that broken body of mine and one night I could remember the Lord's Prayer. And when Mary awoke and saw her son and remembered the Angel's promise to her, the Light returned to her soul. And when the people of the world were told about the Birth, they knew there was a promise of a new life after death and the Light filled their hearts and gave them hope. The Hope from the Despair. The Kindness from the Indifference. The Love from the Hostility. The Light from the Darkness. |
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Saint Paul's Annual Meeting
One service only at 9:30 am
Sunday, January 26
Followed by Lunch and Annual Meeting
Elections, business and lunch in Dean Willey Hall
Freewill offering for dinner, Childcare provided.
Please RSVP here.
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