Traditions

Dear Kajijis,
I hope your holidays were wonderful and created some great family memories for you and yours. We were especially mindful this year of the reason behind Christmas, and celebrating Jesus’ birthday with cake and fellowship was meaningful and fun for our family. Christmas is now over and the New Year’s celebrations are past as well, however many are still celebrating the season as they look forward to the Day of Epiphany. This is a day I never knew about growing up, much less celebrated. But as I learn about others’ traditions and the meaning behind them, I have started to appreciate the significance of some of these traditions and how they help to draw the mind and heart towards God. The Day of Epiphany (January 6th for most) is one such tradition that many other cultures and religions celebrate. My research into its origins shows it to have a confusing historical definition (and even differing placements on the calendar) as it means different things to different cultures. Many believe that this was the actual day of Jesus’ birth. Others focus on the journey of the Magi to the Christ-child (the Day of the Kings). In whatever way a culture celebrates though, it seems to be a fascinating and celebratory day. (Note: the days leading up to Epiphany are known as the “Twelve Days of Christmas” as there are 12 days between Christmas and the Day of Epiphany.) I’ve included notes from the Christian Resource Institute regarding Epiphany – maybe it will inspire you to continue with your celebrations of Jesus’ first coming:

“Epiphany is the climax of the Christmas Season and the Twelve Days of Christmas, which are usually counted from December 25th until January 5th.

In traditional Christian churches Christmas, as well as Easter, is celebrated as a period of time, a season of the church year, rather than just a day. The Season of Christmas begins with the First Sunday of Advent, marked by expectation and anticipation, and concludes with Epiphany, which looks ahead to the mission of the church to the world in light of the Nativity.

The term epiphany means "to show" or "to make known" or even "to reveal." In Western churches, it remembers the coming of the wise men bringing gifts to visit the Christ child, who by so doing "reveal" Jesus to the world as Lord and King. In some Central and South American countries influenced by Catholic tradition, Three Kings’ Day, or the night before, is the time for opening Christmas presents. In some eastern churches, Epiphany or the Theophany commemorates Jesus’ baptism, with the visit of the Magi linked to Christmas. In some churches the day is celebrated as Christmas, with Epiphany/Theophany occurring on January 19th.
As with most aspects of the Christian liturgical calendar, Epiphany has theological significance as a teaching tool in the church. The Wise Men or Magi who brought gifts to the infant Jesus were the first Gentiles to acknowledge Jesus as "King" and so were the first to "show" or "reveal" Jesus to a wider world as the incarnate Christ. This act of worship by the Magi, which corresponded to Simeon’s blessing that this child Jesus would be "a light for revelation to the Gentiles" (Luke 2:32), was one of the first indications that Jesus came for all people, of all nations, of all races, and that the work of God in the world would not be limited to only a few.1 The day is now observed as a time of focusing on the mission of the church in reaching others by "showing" Jesus as the Savior of all people. It is also a time of focusing on Christian brotherhood and fellowship, especially in healing the divisions of prejudice and bigotry that we all too often create between God’s children.”2

Whether you celebrate Epiphany or not, I hope we all keep Christ the focus of any and all seasons throughout the year. If a certain religious or cultural tradition aimed at praising and worshiping Christ helps you to think on Him then, by all means, please observe it and celebrate! If you observe your own traditions not recognized by all, please feel free to share it with us. Traditions themselves may not be a requirement of our spiritual growth, but if they help to make us spiritually richer then they are necessary.

We will start meeting again this Friday, January 5th and Erin has offered to host. The question for discussion this week is: What tradition/ritual/practice in your specific church holds a lot of meaning for you? What is it that means so much and why? Be prepared to share the history and a detailed explanation of it for those of us who may be completely new to the idea. We’re hoping to have many of you with different religious backgrounds attending this week so as to make our conversation that much more enriching so please make every effort to attend! Please RSVP to let me know whether we’ll be seeing you or not – thank you!

:-) Crystal



1 italics mine – I loved the reference to the Wise Men as the first Gentiles to worship Christ.
2 From the Christian Resource Institute at http://www.cresourcei.org/cyepiph.html