At First Presbyterian Annapolis we celebrate with a "come as you are" pageant during worship on the first Sunday of the New Year. Half the congregation gets gold coloured halos to wear to be angels and the other half gets a strip of cloth to tie around their heads for their role as shepherds. My friend and colleague, Miss Good reads the story of the wise men's visit and several youth pantomime the action as King Herod, the wise men, and one pesky camel. A family with an infant is asked to portray Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. It is quite a site and one of the more humorous services of the year.
The four Sundays of Advent, the Christmas Eve service, and the Epiphany service really help me to keep focused on the true meaning of Christmas, to offset the commercial side of things and to remember that Christmas is not just a one day event.
In my house Epiphany also signifies that it is time to take down the decorations and put the tree away. I could happily keep the tree up all year, so for me Epiphany serves as a nice bookend to the Christmas season so I know when it is time to pack everything away until next year.
In the words of one of my favorite writers, Thich Nhat Hahn, who is both a Buddhist monk and a Christian
Redemption and resurrection are neither words nor objects of belief. They are our daily practice. And we practice in such a way that Buddha is born every moment of our daily life, that Jesus Christ is born every moment of our daily life–not only on Christmas day, because every day is Christmas day, every minute is a Christmas minute. The child within us is waiting each minute for us to be born again and again.May the child within you be born today and every day. Merry Christmas.
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