Light for Epiphany

Yesterday was the Feast of the Epiphany. It is hard to believe that time has flown so quickly. My last big post was in the Solomons when we published the Declaration from the Social Justice Conference there. That was a remarkable time and a huge event in my life. The month since then has been full of events, and I have thoroughly enjoyed myself. But there wasn’t a lot of gas in my engine. I was very tired. It has taken the whole month to feel “normal” again. Being back at Little Portion with its deeply familiar rhythms, joys and aggravations, and plentiful food and comfortable bed, has helped me feel strong and creative again. Time for another blog entry! Today we got rid of all the Christmas decorations, and as beautiful as they were, it is great to return to ordinary life.

Ordinary life is pretty rich stuff. Kathleen Norris wrote a book called “Quotidian Mysteries” in which she wrote about her experiences of the divine in everyday life. (She of course writes from a Benedictine perspective, but I wonder if she doesn’t have secret Franciscan tendencies? It doesn’t really matter….) Part of the gift of being part of any community that reads and listens to Scripture every day is that the imagery lurks in your brain; for instance, I find myself thinking about scripture throughout the day--in the hardware store even--as I did yesterday.

I noticed yesterday that one of our outdoor lights had burnt out, so I went to Sears in search of a bulb that was suited for outdoors. Much of the imagery that we heard in from the Epiphany Scripture readings had to do with light: ‘the light of the nations,’ ‘light of the world’, and ‘the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.’ “Where do I find light?” I wondered. “How much light do we need?” After fifteen minutes wandering around the store, I had to ask, and was sent to aisle seven.

This particular floodlight illumines a stair that leads to the house from the labyrinth. For years, when I was Guardian here, I’d minimized the danger of these steps, warning people “Just be careful!” Until, about 5 years ago, one poor woman fell and hurt herself. Suddenly, distracted penny-pinching warnings were totally inadequate. Something had to be done. I contacted an electrician and we got a fixture immediately. Tired of warnings, God sent Jesus to be the light of the world, a light to the nations.

For $12.88 I got two light bulbs; no more darkness.