Epiphany

Today is Epiphany Sunday.

Yesterday was Christmas in much of the Eastern church.... Merry Christmas to all of you who have been celebrating Christmas this week. I wish you joy.

Kendall and I are taking an intensive course this month on the history of the Early Church. It's fascinating. It's truly a cross-cultural experience, learning about the ways and practices of people who lived in a faraway place nearly 2000 years ago. But phenomenal.

One visual piece that I am struck by is some graffiti circa 200 C.E. - it's an image crudely scratched in rock of a donkey being crucified - and a man in prayer near it. And the writing underneath it writes: "Alexander worships his god". So much of the early church experienced taunting and gossip from their neighbours and communities. People didn't know what to make of this strange community that was developing in their midst.

They called the christians antisocial, because they didn't attend any of the festivals or social gatherings that the others did. They didn't attend festivals dedicated to the gods or eat the meat provided there - which was pretty much the biggest social event in town. And they didn't go to the gladiator shows, both because of the god-worship that came with it, and because they didn't want to participate in violence by watching it.

And they spread rumours about the christians. Rumours that they met secretly and practiced cannibalism, and incest, or baby-sacrifice.

It's an eye-opening experience reading what the Romans thought about the Christians. And how the Christians responded and thought in that context. Fascinating.

About Epiphany - which is where this entire tangent began - Epiphany is one of the oldest holidays of the Christian church. In its earliest form, it was a remembrance of Jesus' baptism in the river Jordan, and there many baptisms in the early church may have occurred on this day. The association with Christmas and/or the visit of the Magi came later.

I can get excited about a church holiday celebrating the baptism of Jesus - and encouraging us to remember our baptism and that we are beloved by God (as the Spirit said to Jesus as he was baptised).

Frankly, I don't get all that excited about a day set aside to remember the Magi, which is all I have known about Epiphany. By early January, I'm tired of Christmas and the infancy narratives; I'm ready to move on.

On another note, today is the 13th birthday of my Little Sister (mentee) in Toronto, Brigitte. Happy Birthday, Brigitte!