The time after Epiphany: who he is

Read this at the start of the weeks after Epiphany, if your household keeps the year. It belongs to the Year view only.

Epiphany is an old word for showing. After the waiting of Advent and the joy of Christmas, these weeks are where the child from the manger stands up and is seen for who he is: the Word made flesh, the beloved Son named at the water, the guest who turned water to wine, the teacher on the hillside, and at the last, the face shining on the mountain.

That is the work of the season: meeting him before you follow him. The year will ask hard things soon enough. First it wants you to look.

A few simple things a household might do to keep these weeks:

Ask the plain question at the table, each week: who is this man? Let everyone answer honestly, in their own words, including the ones who are not sure. The readings answer it one showing at a time; let the answers grow as the weeks do.

Keep a light on against the winter dark. The season is about seeing, and the small lit lamp says so without a word.

And when the last week climbs the mountain, where his face shone and the voice said, listen to him, be ready for the road to bend. Lent comes next, and it bends toward the cross.

Look long now. Everything the year asks of you later rests on who you find him to be.