Another Way Home: A Season of Epiphanies
Laura Fitzpatrick-Nager
The First Congregational Church of Old Lyme
Texts: Matthew 2: 1-12
January 7th, 2024
Among the holiday movies we watched at our house over Christmas break was ET, that beloved 1982 American science fiction film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg. It tells the story of Elliott, a boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, dubbed E.T., who is left behind on Earth. I was mesmerized by the story all over again. Let’s be honest, It has the best and longest bicycle chase scene ever – as fearless middle schoolers race and ditch police cars against all odds.
And then, following that scene, the breathtaking moment where Eliot takes off into the sky with his buddies behind him and ET sitting in the front basket of his bike. It’s an awe inspiring moment …even in spite of the dated special effects.
“Home” ET cries pointing to the starry night, “go home…” Somehow, against all odds and a near death experience that is a real tear jerker, ET does get home and Elliot returns to his, forever changed by the relationship, their friendship, the whole journey.
Home. Sometimes the best route to take is the one made of detours, creative ingenuity and listening to dreams as the Magi did in our scripture story.
Much of the world celebrates Three Kings Day, Día de Los Reyes, or Epiphany this weekend. Traditionally celebrated on Jan 6th, it’s the 12th Day of Christmas…(and I believe it begins the Mardi Gras season we may even have a King Cake at Fellowship hour today). This anniversary is the one I choose to focus on much more than the 3rd anniversary of January 6th at the Capitol yesterday.
Re-reading our scripture, I’m struck again by the familiarity of the story of the Magi and what happens when we read it with newness as though for the first time. How revelation does not belong to the Herods of this world and instead come in the form of a small child from an anonymous family in a nondescript town who will shortly ( a little later in Matthew’s gospel) be displaced and forced to flee to Egypt because of Herod’s death threats.
While we sing “We Three Kings” with gusto each Christmas season, we actually don’t know who the Magi were or how many there were, whether they arrived on camels or formed a whole caravan of travelers, men and women alike.
There’s a popular meme that suggests if there had been Three Wise Women instead of Three Wise Men, “They would have asked directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, brought practical gifts like diapers, cleaned the stable, made a casserole, and there would be peace on earth!”
What we can ascertain from the Matthew passage is that these wise travelers apparently read the stars and followed the map of the heavens to make their way. The magi were committed to the journey—wherever the star might lead them. Even Herod knew to consult their expertise. It also seems like Herod was afraid, as all authoritarian bullies are, fearing their power will be taken from them, that their star will be diminished.
The Magi were outsiders, foreigners from the East. As we know from the gospels, the most unlikely folks and outsiders are the true North of divine love. ”Christmas is ultimately a love story”, writes Matthew Myer Boulton, pointing us to the heart of God’s love in the gift of a child.
As we begin to put Christmas away, and box up ornaments for another year, I’m reminded that in the series of Nativity stories we’ve read and shared over the past two weeks, from Mary and Joseph’s yes’ to the angels to the Magi’s taking another route home, God arrives from off the grid. From “No room at the Inn” to the continuing drama of a child and family at risk of death and pursued by a power hungry king. And then, for safety’s sake, the Wise Magi choose to return home by another way.
Echoes of today’s world resound. (From Gaza to Ukraine to hopes for a cease fire still unknown to the thousands of migrants seeking asylum at the borders.), as it says in the prophet Jeremiah, “They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace (6.14).”
We may journey like the Magi seeking something, but epiphanies often unfold beyond our control. They unfold when we’re willing to take another road for a change and have our hearts and minds opened.
I think of our fellow church travelers currently journeying through West Africa at this moment, following unfamiliar routes, learning of new cultures and sacred religious rituals and making new relationships.. “Hard and beautiful”, one of them wrote to me recently. We’ll have to wait for more details upon their return next week
Just as the Magi were seekers, what are you seeking in this new year?
As I was reflecting on this sermon and epiphanies large and small, I received an invitation earlier this week to participate in the National Day of Dialogue held this past Friday, on January 5th. It was organized by a consortium of pro-democracy organizations and so I signed on for an hour and a half discussion- joining a diverse group of 50 people from all over the country to participate in this dialogue experiment. Experiment is my word. And it was a little daunting! Given all the divisiveness, hate speech and threats to our democracy in this first week of the New Year alone, I swallowed and hit the JOIN button, trying another way.
I had just been reading about “peace speech” vs “hate speech” and the studies being conducted at Columbia University’s Sustaining Peace Project.[1] The project looks at how peace is sustained, and where? How is conversation different in peaceful places in the world? What language is used[2]
This National Day of Dialogue effort felt timely and serendipitous.
Given our FCCOL Sacred Conversations endeavor,too, and our community wide efforts to get to know one another better,
I took the plunge and joined strangers on Zoom.
I have to admit, the time for this experiment was worth it. I was reminded that listening, active listening, is the number one necessity of true dialogue. In the session, We talked initially about why dialogue matters especially with those who are different from ourselves, especially if we want to build understanding (not necessarily agreement but understanding). What are the ABC’s of constructive dialogue? We roleplayed in small groups ( and took turns in the different roles of listener, speaker and coach). And considered questions like:
What does democracy mean to you?
How can we strengthen trust in our elections?
What makes you hopeful?
What makes speech free?
(Lead with curiosity, listen with generosity, Ask to understand.These were among the ABC’s we practiced.)
After the closing reflection, we were encouraged to keep practicing and seeking out these crucial conversations. I remembered a quote from the Dali Lama, “The greatest gift we can give to one another is the gift of being heard.”
Perhaps, as the Magi entered the house of Mary and Joseph to kneel where the young child was, they received that hospitality, too. We never hear about the Magi again and as far as I know, like ET, they did find their way home.
In all our yearnings and hopes for the coming year, may we keep seeking ways to be home for one another….wherever the road may leads us.
It’s hardly simple but maybe that’s the gift I can bring into this new year.
What’s yours?
Happy Epiphanies.
[1] Professor Peter T. Coleman of Columbia University is leading —a team of multidisciplinary researchers and artists devoted to bridging the gap between the academics and practical applications of lasting peace.The group is working to build consensus around what types of language represent “peace speech”— the opposite of “hate speech”—in order to investigate how language might be used to repair and heal violent or broken communities. What are the dynamics that make a peaceful community, peaceful…what language is used?https://www.earth.columbia.edu/videos/view/padraig-o-tuama-and-friends-on-language-as-a-conflict-trap-or-peace-pathway
[2] For one project, the team is using AI to scan 900 million news articles published during a 10-year span in both highly violent and highly peaceful nations. They are analyzing and comparing differences in language among the countries. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0292604#sec014