Our family just recently took a holiday to Lapland. We spent a week in the winter wonderland and had great time. Coming home is always a pleasure no matter how much fun you had away. This time I was even blessed with an epiphany: I realized that this house in which we moved just few months ago really had become our home! This newfound understanding intensified my happy feelings of sweet homecoming.

I have moved around a lot in my life. I lived in several places in Finland, in four different states in the U.S.A. and spent a year in Belgium. Moving has come a routine but it still takes a lot of emotional energy no matter of how much you had anticipated the move. This is true also when your inward life has radically changed. Afterwards it helps to go away for a retreat or travel back to visit your friends to get a new look at your life. It enables you to process what is going on in your life. Going away indeed gives you epiphanies if you are intuitively open to receive them.

Of course, going away is not the only way to get epiphanies. Sometimes we get the same effect if we receive visitors from far away places. Their view of our everyday life can help us to see things from different perspective. Most epiphanies are about gaining an insightful understanding about your life. They help us to gain courage to navigate the right course on our journey. This is why it certainly is worth to wait for epiphanies!

The culture of waiting is very much a Jewish tradition. That is their gift to the world. The wise men who followed the star did not know anything about the culture of waiting. Their gift to the world was following the star without knowing the whole picture. They came from far away place to give people new perspective on Jesus’ birth. They were given a new understanding for their knowledge of the star. Christ is the star, the light of the whole wide world. God orchestrates the big picture; our task is to be obedient and faithful in our callings.

Gracious God,
Guide us in our life’s journey.
Send us people to shake our routines.
Send us away to see more clearly.
Help us to reflect your light to the world!
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Q4U: What are your most important epiphanies?