{"id":570,"date":"2020-01-09T14:15:34","date_gmt":"2020-01-09T14:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniofglos.blog\/chaplaincy\/?p=570"},"modified":"2020-01-09T14:15:34","modified_gmt":"2020-01-09T14:15:34","slug":"small-epiphanies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.glos.ac.uk\/chaplaincy\/2020\/01\/09\/small-epiphanies\/","title":{"rendered":"Small epiphanies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So here we are again, back after Christmas. In Advent we thought about waiting, hoping and preparing. Now we are in the season of Epiphany – when we think of the light shining out from the one who has come to us, shining out into all the world. It begins with the much loved story of the wise men – and that\u2019s often where we stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if we continue after this story we hear how the\nmagi alerted Herod to this potential threat and he is looking for Jesus to kill\nhim. Joseph is told in a dream to get away to safety in Egypt. Then, after\nHerod has died, he\u2019s told that it\u2019s safe to go back to Israel. But he\u2019s worried\nthat Herod\u2019s son is still a threat, so rather than settling in Bethlehem or\nsomewhere nearby, he heads up to Galilee and makes his home in Nazareth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And this is the last we hear of Jesus and his family\nfor 12 years. Then we have a brief story about the boy Jesus being lost, and being\nfound in the temple – and then another 18 years during which he grows into\nmanhood and apparently lives quietly in Nazareth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are sometimes called the \u2018hidden years\u2019. We know\nvery little about the first 30 years of Jesus life – it\u2019s only in the last\nthree years that we see the wonderful ways that God\u2019s love is made known\nthrough him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might think, from the Christmas stories, that his\nlife is all angels and stars, breathless visitors from nearby and wondering\ngift-givers from exotic lands. But it seems that most of his life was living in\na small community, being with his family, working in the family business, going\nalong to the local synagogue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were moments when a curtain was pulled aside and\nthe glory of God shone through – at his birth – at his baptism – and maybe some\nin between. But these were brief epiphanies. The inner light which he knew –\nmaybe which he learnt to know more and more – was largely hidden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I find that quite encouraging. As we move on from\nChristmas into a new year it can all seem a bit gloomy and depressing – same\nold same old. Our lives often feel pretty ordinary. As we get up in the morning\n– especially on these dark mornings – it can feel like the daily trudge\nbeginning again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is another reality underneath – often\nhidden, but occasionally glimpsed – the reality of God\u2019s presence here with us\n– the reality of God\u2019s overwhelming love for us – the reality of God\u2019s\ntransforming love working in the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes when we look back over our days we can\nrecognise what a student I saw yesterday calls \u2018a God thing\u2019. And those small\nepiphanies remind us of this deeper reality which may be often hidden but is\nalways true. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And maybe we can do more than just wait for those\nmoments to be given. We were sent a little Advent calendar by a friend this\nyear. There\u2019s a picture behind each little door – but we don\u2019t see it unless we\nopen the door.  The pictures are hidden –\nbut they were always there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe there are ways that we can open some more doors\nto God\u2019s life, just beneath the surface of our life? Maybe there are ways that\nwe have found to do this already – or new ways which we could explore. It might\nbe a simple as being mindful of God with us each time we walk along the road or\nacross the car park into uni, or pausing in the middle of our day, or taking a\nlittle longer to connect with God – maybe a day or half a day every so often. Letting\nhis light shine through into our ordinary days a little more. And then allowing\nthat light to shine through us into the world around us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spend a few moments reflecting – where have you\nglimpsed God\u2019s light and his love over Christmas\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Were there any times that you experienced a glimpse of\n\u2018God with us\u2019 even yesterday\u2026?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What might be the little doors which you could open to\nknow more of the life of God which lies just beneath the surface of our life?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Open our eyes to see, open our ears to hear; open our life to live your calling. Open us, Lord, to love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So here we are again, back after Christmas. In Advent we thought about waiting, hoping and preparing. Now we are in the season of Epiphany – when we think of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reflections"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.glos.ac.uk\/chaplaincy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.glos.ac.uk\/chaplaincy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.glos.ac.uk\/chaplaincy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.glos.ac.uk\/chaplaincy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.glos.ac.uk\/chaplaincy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.glos.ac.uk\/chaplaincy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.glos.ac.uk\/chaplaincy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.glos.ac.uk\/chaplaincy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.glos.ac.uk\/chaplaincy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}