Epiphany - A Guided Reflection

A guided reflection on the Epiphany story, of the visit of the Magi to the child Jesus. We read through the story as told in the Gospel of Matthew, a few verses at a time, with pauses to reflect on how we can see our own journey through the story of the journey of the Magi.

Transcript

Hello,

I'm Fiona Cooper-Yesperson and this is a guided reflection on the Epiphany story,

The narrative of the time the Magi visited the child Jesus in Bethlehem.

You might want to have your journal and a pen ready to note down any images or words that feel meaningful as we move through the story.

Or you are welcome to simply listen and give yourself the space for whatever needs to arise to do so.

I'm going to be reading from the Gospel of Matthew,

Chapter 2,

And using the Passion translation.

We're going to read just a few verses at a time and then pause to reflect on how we can see our own journey through the story of the journey the Magi took.

So if you're ready,

Let's begin.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem near Jerusalem during the reign of King Herod.

After Jesus' birth,

A group of spiritual priests from the east came to Jerusalem and inquired of the people,

Where is the child who is born King of the Jewish people?

We observed his star rising in the sky and we've come to bow before him in worship.

I want to take you back for a moment to that eastern land,

Possibly Persia,

Modern day Iran.

These Magi were priests and priestesses,

Highly educated and deeply spiritual.

They studied both the natural signs of the world and the holy scriptures and prophecies of their own world.

And they came seeking a Jewish king.

It was important enough that they leave their lives and travel to an occupied foreign land.

It drew them.

This was something significant enough that they were not willing to risk missing it.

They were compelled by the story that they had discovered in tradition and in nature and in their own hearts.

And so my first question for us today is what story awakens desire in you?

What in your life is significant enough that you feel compelled to move,

To journey,

Even to leave something behind in order to seek it out?

If that feels like too big a question to answer,

If you can't grasp it fully yet,

Try simply writing down or thinking on any words or images that come to mind.

What does that desire feel like?

The story continues.

King Herod was shaken to the core when he heard this and not only him but all of Jerusalem was disturbed when they heard this news.

The fact that the Magi were able to disturb both the king and all of the city means that this caravan of foreign priests and priestesses create quite a stir.

This was no three elderly men on camels.

This was an intentional envoy of honored women and men between kingdoms,

Between religions.

And so who are you journeying together with?

Who or what is part of your caravan as you journey and how will you sustain yourself on this journey towards your heart's desire?

Next Herod called a meeting of the Jewish ruling priests and religious scholars demanding that they tell him where the promised messiah was prophesied to be born.

He will be born in Bethlehem in the land of Judah they told him.

And so the Magi left and on their way to Bethlehem suddenly the same star they had seen in the east reappeared.

Amazed they watched as it went ahead of them and stopped directly over the place where the child was.

The Magi report that they have seen the king child star rising in the sky but first they must seek advice from the wise scholars of Jerusalem.

It is only once they are on their way to Bethlehem that the star amazingly leads them to the precise home they are seeking.

Where do you draw wisdom from on your journey?

Who are the trustworthy guides in your life?

How do you discern the direction you should travel?

And so they arrive at their destination.

When they came into the house and saw the young child with Mary his mother they were overcome.

Falling to the ground at his feet they worshipped him.

Then they opened their treasure boxes full of gifts and presented him with gold,

Frankincense and myrrh.

So the Magi arrive at last at the object of their desire.

The child Jesus in a humble Bethlehem home.

It does not look like they would have anticipated but they trust the journey they have been on and they open their hearts fully to receive the child and they offer their gifts.

Gifts that are costly and meaningful.

In what ways in the past have you received your heart's desire but maybe in a different way than you had anticipated?

It can be helpful to think of desire as layered.

The surface level things that we desire might not actually be what we most need but when we look intentionally at them they point us deeper towards the true desires of our hearts.

And so what are the desires beneath your desires?

In what way are the things you want most right now pointing you towards a deeper yearning?

And what might it look like to allow love to give you the true desire of your heart rather than just a shallow understanding of it?

Discovering your heart's desire will require all that you have to give.

Your most costly and meaningful gifts but as you let go of much you will discover that you receive back so much more in return.

You receive your truest self,

Deep peace,

Unbreakable trust,

Eternal rest and you find yourself face to face with love,

With God,

With the divine.

Surprisingly the story does not end at the child,

At the object of their desire.

It continues,

Afterward they returned to their own country by another route because God warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod.

Now until the invention of trains and planes pilgrims would usually walk to their destination and then walk back and we have lost something of the understanding of pilgrimage if we forget that there is a return journey too.

Our spiritual journey is never only just for us.

The transformation,

The gifts we receive,

The treasure we find is also for the communal transformation of the world.

And so what does that return journey look like for you?

What might it look like in your own life once you have received what you desired,

What you sought and journeyed after?

What does it look like to integrate that fully into your life both internally but also externally in your relationships,

Your work,

Your community and all the practices of your life like eating,

Shopping that connect you with the wider world.

I want us to finish with a blessing that is written by Jan Richardson.

It's one of my favorite blessings of hers.

I come back to it over and over and it's called By Another Way.

You have looked at so many doors with longing,

Wondering if your life lay on the other side.

For today choose the door that opens to the inside.

Travel the most ancient way of all,

The path that leads you to the center of your life.

No map but the one you make yourself.

No provision but what you already carry and the grace that comes to those who walk the pilgrim's way.

Speak this blessing as you set out and watch how your rhythm slows,

The cadence of the road drawing you into the pace that is your own.

Eat when hungry,

Rest when tired,

Listen to your dreaming,

Welcome detours as doors deeper in,

Pray for protection,

Ask for the guidance you need,

Offer gladness for the gifts that come and then let them go.

Do not expect to return by the same road.

Home is always by another way and you will know it not by the light that waits for you but by the star that blazes inside you,

Telling you where you are is holy and you are welcome here.

Amen.

Reviews

I loved this telling of the Epiphany story thank you