Vital Signs

            Camels adorned in sparkling vestments processed into Christ Church Cathedral on Epiphany Sunday. A dozen and a half of our teenagers spent the weekend on a confirmation retreat exploring what their baptism means to them. In a vibrant conversation with 4 twenty-something members, one remarked “… and there are a lot of people here that are our age too! I think it’s because we are allowed to think and to question things, and that’s ok…” The Cathedral’s new Senior Warden announced last Sunday, “…and because of our members’ generous and giving stewardship, we finished the year in the black for the first time since 2006…”

            The season of Epiphany is a season of light and life. It is a season in which we look for the new things that God is doing in our midst. We read about the Magi following the star, finding the baby Jesus, the Messiah, and paying homage to him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. We read that after Jesus’ baptism a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” We will hear about the beginning of Jesus’ ministry when water is turned to wine at the wedding at Cana, as well as other miracles too. We conclude this season of light and life with the Transfiguration of Jesus on the mountaintop, witnessed by Peter and James, as Jesus’ glory is revealed while he confers with Moses and Elijah. Then we hear that voice from the cloud again, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” In these Gospel stories, we hear time and again about the new things God is doing through the Messiah.

            As we travel through this season of Epiphany together, listen and look for the signs of light and life. They are the promise of the new things that God is doing in our midst. They are the vital signs of God’s presence in the world. We see this all around us at Christ Church Cathedral – in camels processing down the center isle as we sing “We Three Kings”; in eager teenagers wondering what it means that they are baptized; in conversations that spring up about why this Episcopal Church is attracting twenty-something members; in the generosity of parishioners for the many works of God through the Cathedral.

            It is all too easy to focus on the darkness that is in the world and in our lives. But focusing on the darkness is not what we are called to do during Epiphany. Instead, let us lift up our eyes to the light, to the shinning star in the east that portends the life of the world that God has given to each and every one of us.

Look for the light and life around you. What is it that you see? In your own life, where are the Epiphany signs of light and life? Where do you find the new things that God is doing?
+ Rev. Brent Owens