Epiphany and Aha Moments by Sharon Espeseth

Epiphany on the Liturgical Calendar

Three Magi--2011
at Journey to Bethlehem
in Fort Assiniboine, AB
Photo by
Tracey Pandachuk

The church celebration of Epiphany has come and gone. This past Sunday with the traditional carol, "We Three Kings," we celebrated the arrival of the Magi. These gentlemen were not really kings, but knowledgeable and important astrologers from the East.

They arrived on camels and came bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Although the Magi's
gifts seemed impractical, they were significant. Gold recognized the arrival of a Baby King. Frankincense honoured the presence of a Deity, or God with us. Myrrh, that "bitter perfume," foretold the death of Jesus, who would one day be "sealed in the stone-cold tomb."

Through Epiphany, a Christian feast day, we are celebrating God's manifestation of the divinity of Jesus as Lord and Saviour to all mankind--not just the Hebrews.








Epiphany in Fiction and Real Life

Grandsons--Caleb and Logan
Photo by Jenny Espeseth Bayes

In a more secular vein, the word "epiphany" is also defined as a literary device. In fiction, it is that moment when the character realizes the truth of a situation. As in literature, so it is in real life. We could call an epiphany "an aha moment." Most of us have experienced one or more of these in our lifetimes.


The New Year is a good time to look for discoveries as we examine the past and look toward the future. On a personal note, 2016 has been an uphill climb, but I'm not going to drown you in details.

Giving Thanks

Instead I am giving thanks for the presence of God in my life. I have sensed the frankincense of God watching over our family, guiding and supporting us, and answering our prayers. Thanks to InScribe friends and our spiritual advisor Connie Inglis for prayers on our behalf. Praise and thanks to God for prayers answered. We have been blessed.

Thanks to my Women Word Weaver friends in Barrhead for caring about me when I missed meetings. This past Monday we celebrated our successes of 2016 and our being together as a group again.

God Loves Us So Much. . .

Sandi Somers, who introduces our blog theme each month, sent me a quote by David Wilkerson that was timely for me. In one of his devotionals, Wilkerson says, "It is absolutely imperative that we believe God delights in us. Then we will be able to accept that every circumstance in our lives will eventually prove to be our Father's loving will for us, and He will bring joy out of our struggles." I can show my love and devotion to God by spending more time with him, reading God's word, and listening to him.

I would love to bring gold to Jesus, our Lord and King. The Magi brought gold "to crown him as "King forever, Ceasing never, Over us all to reign."

Loved so greatly by our Lord and King, What can I bring him? Love. Thanksgiving. Myself. My gifts? What gifts do I have but those given to me by our loving God?

Personal Epiphany

By using my gifts, I am giving back, but I must give my gift without hesitation or excuses. I must use what gifts I have courageously to praise his name.

This week I received a passage of scripture from someone was praying for me--Isaiah 43:16-21, which is too long to quote completely here. If you are curious, read this section on your own.

See I am Doing a New Thing!

Isaiah quotes God as saying,                      

". . . Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See I am doing a new thing!"

I have been thinking for some time of starting my own blog. I've been afraid of the commitment, because of what the past few years have been like for us, but here in Isaiah I read that I should not dwell on these former things. Although other encouragements and signs have come to me, it was these verses in Isaiah that helped me decide..

My technical skills have improved, but I still have much to learn. You won't see me on my blog for a while, but I will start the process and get some blogs written ahead. I will continue to pray about this.

The above reading continues,

"I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland."

God willing, I will "provide water in the wilderness." Perhaps spring is coming after my winter season in writing. Thanks be to God.

Freelance Writer: Sharon Espeseth

* Mom to three adult children and two sons-in-law
* Nana to six grandchildren
* Freelance writer of creative non-fiction, essays, NF and articles on Christian faith, devotionals, short fiction, memoir
* Workshop presenter
* Active in music at St. Anne's Catholic Church in Barrhead, AB
* Member of InScribe Christian Writer's Fellowship
* Member of Women Word Weavers in Barrhead
* Retired teacher, if teachers do retire, in K-Gr. 6

Epiphany in Infancy by Connie Inglis

                          (The Adoration of the Magi by Jacob Jordaens)

Epiphany: (Oxford Dictionary)
1. The manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi.
2. A moment of sudden and great revelation or realization.

I do not think it coincidental that these are the two definitions of the word epiphany. I see them as  related. The Great Revelation of Christ to the magi--that "magical" awareness 2000+ years ago that this infant was God in human form--is not difficult to connect to that same "magical" realization that happens for us in a moment of epiphany. I believe it to be a Holy Spirit-driven awareness, an awareness that is not exclusive but inclusive. That's why I like Jordaen's version of this event--it is not just the magi that are there, but the simple townsfolk, people like me, who are there too, taking in that epiphanic moment.
 
The greatest epiphany in my life came when I tasted God's love and turned my life over to Jesus. Since then I have had a number of epiphanic moments in my faith walk. In my writing, however, there was no sudden burst of awareness but a subtle drawing to a desire.  My epiphanic moment arrived in infancy and has grown over time.

I shared in a previous post that I first started writing when I was nine or ten years old. I was working on a science fiction story, complete with illustrations, when one day I came home to find my mom had accidentally thrown away all my work that I had kept hidden in a manila envelope in the closet. I was devastated and sad and my pen remained silent for the next 35 years (Other than inconsistent journaling). And just like Jesus' birth came at a time in Jewish history when God had been silent, so my moment of inspiration came at a time when God seemed far away and I was in need of some encouragement. Surprisingly, the words flowed with ease and spilled out on to the page.

It was early 2006--the year our firstborn would be graduating from high school, returning to Canada and going on to secondary education while the rest of us remained in Thailand. It was a time of uncertainty for us as parents and yes, fear. But it was also a time when all three of our children were coming into their own, particularly with their giftedness in art: our daughters in fine art, our son in graphic art (Art on left by daughters Mykal and Kendra). It took me back to my childhood and my love for writing and art. The creativity I thought I had lost but now saw in my children, pulled me back into its realm. I was inspired or, as Madeleine L'Engle puts it, "in-spirited." It truly was Spirit-driven in its infancy. And God has kept me there, quietly helping me develop in it ever since. My epiphany i.e. His epiphany, came in the form of the following poem, a poem dedicated to my children:

THE ARTIST

The artist’s eye

            --seeing the unseen

Dip. Stroke.

Turning on the

            Light bending a brush with 1,000 colours—

            to a cataract world.

Gray-scale becomes

azure, magenta, chartreuse.

The artist’s ear

            --hearing the still, small Voice

Weave. Blot.

A single ink dot meaningless,

            but corporately—masterfully

            fortissimo to a deafened world.

Muffled becomes

pure yellow, blue, red.

The artist’s touch

            --molding the Supra-dimensional

Fire. Bisque. Fire.

A lump spinning on a wheel,

            driven emotion takes form through

            unique fingerprints—controlled strength.

Dull clod becomes

smooth, lustrous, unblemished.

The artist

            Creator-charged—

breathes life into the medium

and takes your breath away.