Isaiah 60:1-6

Epiphany - Years A, B, C


Your own shall come from far away.

Yes, they have been so far away for so long that, for the longest time, it has seemed they were no longer our own.

But, finally, we lifted an eye to find our log to be a star and, upon looking again, it is clear those who were far off are far off no longer.

Our own have come home.
We have carried home to them.


Now, just so we don’t get too big a head and fail to recognize our kith and kin again, whether near or far, we are to remember that “home” rises on all—it is not just ours—we are its.

May this year be a year of everyone being home together.

 

As found in Wrestling Year A: Connecting Sunday Readings with Lived Experience

 


 

What is this “glory” that revives a community? Here is an overly simple response — an ability to look up and look around.

We tend to be so focused on survival needs (sometimes beyond survival, as in climbing some proverbial ladder to success that always needs a ladder extension) that our nose to the grindstone precludes an ability to look up. These are in some sense mutually exclusive and any contortion to have them be simultaneous only hurts. Imagine the old workaholic mantra actually being accurate: “Keep your feet on the ground, your head above the clouds, your nose to the grindstone, your shoulder to the wheel, your finger on the pulse, your eye on the ball and your ear to the ground.”

Basic to keeping up with the continual changes of life is an ability to look up from our preoccupations and expectations and to look around at the consequences of our past decisions and evaluate what still needs doing. This looking will clear our cobwebs (clouds), allow persistence in the face of discouragement (grindstones), inform where force can be applied to an appropriate lever set on a fulcrum again a blockage (wheels), evaluate the health of a whole system in the face of a temptation to dissect (pulses), attend to details that bring a vision to fruition (balls), and attend to what is coming as well as what is already present (ground of being).

Starting anywhere else than looking up and looking around turns clouds, grindstones, wheels, pulses, balls, and ground into a hammer that sees everything as a nail. These all play their part but are only parts to a larger, more unified process.

Wisdom, down through the generations, counsels appreciation of verses 4-5:
look up—>look around—>thrill and rejoice—>abundance is present—>share—>proceed.

Well?

 

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2013/01/isaiah-601-6.html

 


 

The obvious connection with Epiphany is the reference to gold and frankincense (the camels are probably only present as an anachronism from Christmas pageants).

If we start at the beginning this passage, instead of the end, we are encouraged to reflect on what we would use as a sign of hope in the midst of darkness. Consider your particular vocation/occupation. What would make sense, in that context, for you to anticipate or respond to a sense of new beginnings.

The Magi seem to be more scholarly/priestly types who are particularly attuned to the stars. So their catching on to something, going on beyond their ken, that needs their attention and presence would likely come from the stars.

When they arrive in Jerusalem there seems to be no consideration being given to the issue of a fulfillment of hope and where its locus might be identified. Both king and priests had to scramble to figure something out. Eventually, based on the Magi-estic questions, folks remember Bethlehem.

What in your area of experience/expertise is calling out to you for recognition and your involvement? In your questions others will be stimulated to begin paying attention to that same call from their arenas of participation with life.

I won't be using a star gazing approach, for that is not my gift. I'd be more likely to catch a glimpse from some small reflection on the Daily Show. What puts you in touch with the prophetic recognition of new life in the midst of the darkness of our usual power and control issues?

- - -

Dave (Reader)

Good points, Wesley, hope does not come from the establishments and power brokers. It comes out of the grass roots and the "Marys", who say "Let it be" to God!

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2005/january2005.html

 


 

Your own shall come from far away.

Yes, they have been so far away for so long that, for the longest time, it has seemed they were no longer our own.

But, finally, we lifted an eye to find our log to be a star and, upon looking again, it is clear those who were far off are far off no longer.


Our own have come home.
We have carried home to them.

Now, just so we don't get too big a head and fail to recognize our kith and kin again, whether near or far, we are to remember that "home" rises on all, it is not just ours, we are its.

May 2008 be a year of everyone being home together.

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2008_01_01_archive.html

 


 

Arise, shine - your light has come, so emulate it.

The light of creation came for its own sake, but not for that alone. Creation’s light also arrived in anticipation of all that was to come. The gift of life is not just as a chip off the old G*D block, but to live as though G*D.

Lift up your eyes: see and be seen; see and be radiant.

Don’t be misled by the gold and fankincense commonality. The connection goes deeper, to light shine from without and within. Be blessed by light and bless with it.

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2012/01/isaiah-601-9.html

 


 

Arise. Shine. A light has come to little ol’ you.

Where once there was darkness, a light shines on you.

There is no hiding your belovedness.

Folks are already being drawn to you that your gifts might be mingled and the common good enhanced.

What is being revealed in destroyed Jerusalem or a manger in Bethlehem or your own locale is the importance of all, from the most overlooked or looked down upon to the most praised and honored. Without your gifts received and given, we, together, are slowed down.

It is time to accept that you are as much in the spotlight as anyone, so act—act as though you mean something.

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2014/01/isaiah-601-9.html