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Dear friend,
Today on Epiphany, we remember it was the wise outsiders, not insiders, who brought gifts to the Christ child. We remember that when people in power ask you to do the wrong thing, it’s always the right time to disobey, even if it means breaking rules. We remember Jesus and his family were refugees. We remember the innocent children murdered by empires’ seeking to keep power. We remember that the only faithful revolution we are called to is an insurrection of love.
Image and poem are by Jan Richardson.
Wise women also came.
The fire burned
in their wombs
long before they saw
the flaming star
in the sky.
They walked in shadows,
trusting the path
would open
under the light of the moon.
Wise women also came,
seeking no directions,
no permission
from any king.
They came
by their own authority,
their own desire,
their own longing.
They came in quiet,
spreading no rumors,
sparking no fears
to lead
to innocents’ slaughter,
to their sister Rachel’s
inconsolable lamentations.
Wise women also came,
and they brought
useful gifts:
water for labor’s washing,
fire for warm illumination,
a blanket for swaddling.
Wise women also came,
at least three of them,
holding Mary in the labor,
crying out with her
in the birth pangs,
breathing ancient blessings
into her ear.
Wise women also came,
and they went,
as wise women always do,
home a different way.
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