Epiphany

I love the word, “epiphany.” To me, it sounds like what it means: a moment of sudden revelation or insight. In the Church year, of course, that revelation is Christ and Epiphany is the holiday that commemorates the gift-giving actions of the wise men that ‘reveal” the baby Jesus as our Lord and King. Depending on whether you subscribe to a Catholic calendar or a Protestant one, Epiphany is either one day or an entire season. As I belong to a Lutheran congregation, I observe Epiphany as an entire season, one that begins on January 6th and ends on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Traditional food for the actual day of Epiphany: a King’s Cake. I did not make one of these this weekend, but I may plan on it for next year.

My family spent the weekend celebrating, cleaning up, and getting back to normal. The celebrating happened at the Shoreline Ringers holiday party. With such a busy concert and rehearsal schedule during Advent, the director wisely decided to wait until the end of Christmas for a get-together. The food was great: baked Brie, Chinese BBQ meatballs, shrimp dip, a corned beef cheese ball, and more. The company was even better. These folks really seem to enjoy spending time with each other, whether they are ringing bells or not.

Clean up, of course, involved dismantling a very dry Christmas tree, as well as the continued effort to pack away everything from holiday gift wrap to Christmas china. I may be busy for a few more days, but the boxes will eventually make it into the attic. The dishes will probably head for the basement. Lugging heavy boxes full of dishes into my attic is just not a task I care to tackle, now or next Christmas when it is, once again, time to gear up for holiday fun.

Getting back to normal meant getting up and heading to church. I must confess I slept in too late for early church and our “work schedule” in the house negated late service, so I only attended Sunday school. Later in the evening, I took Katherine the Great to Youth Group for Bible study and a few games of Sardines (a favorite activity at Christ Lutheran). Rather than drive the hour-long commute that accumulates if I drive to and from the church twice, once for child drop off and once for pickup, I camped out in the Youth Director’s office and read Huckleberry Finn. Exciting, I know. Don’t you wish you had my life?

Tomorrow is the “official” end of Christmas vacation at our house. Bright and early, it is back to school! I’m sure 8:00 AM will come earlier than I think.