• About The Sophia Center

The Sophia Center for Spirituality

~ Spanning the denominations in NY's Southern Tier

The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Tag Archives: heart recognition

Epiphany

06 Wednesday Jan 2016

Posted by thesophiacenterforspirituality in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Christian, epiphany, God is love, heart recognition, incarnated, Jesus, John, Little Christmas, love, Magi, sudden realization, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

alightheartEven though Christian Churches have chosen over the last several years to celebrate some feasts on the Sunday closest to their traditional date, something makes me rebel when January 6th rolls around. When I was a child and didn’t yet comprehend the word Epiphany, I knew we called this day Little Christmas. It was the day when we sang, “We three kings of Orient are bearing gifts we traversed afar…” It was all about gold, frankincense and myrrh and, of course, the star. As I grew older I learned that the visit of the Magi was significant because it represented the fact that the birth of Jesus was celebrated in a much broader way than just by those present when he was born. The word epiphany means a showing, as when the three kings (astrologers?) came to see Jesus. It has also come to be defined more generally as a sudden and profound understanding of something, a sudden realization about the nature or meaning of something.

Jesus came into our world – was incarnated – to manifest God to humanity. The First Letter of John gives us a hint of this profound reality. No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us and God’s love is brought to perfection in us…God is love and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in them. (1 JN 4:11-18) John doesn’t say that God has love for us but rather God is Love. How, then, does Jesus manifest God in the world? By loving, by becoming the incarnation (the coming into flesh) of God. So this means that our call to be the manifestation of God in the world in the following of Jesus is also to be love at all times and in all our actions. Mental recognition of this fact is one thing. Heart recognition takes a lifetime of study – of the Scriptures to see all the ways in which Jesus showed the love of God and of our personal experiences to learn the nature of pure love, both the giving and receiving of it, and from the appreciation of the gift of life itself.

May you be blessed this day with a deeper recognition of the meaning of the reality that God is Love and thus may you grow into your truest self which is also a manifestation of God in the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Donate to The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Donate

Our other websites

  • Main website
  • Facebook page

Visitors

  • 100,412 hits

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,046 other subscribers

Recent Posts

  • The “O Antiphon” Meditations
  • Memorial to be held this Sunday
  • Mark your calendars
  • A note to readers
  • “Hope Springs Eternal…”

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Archives

  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • The Sophia Center for Spirituality
    • Join 560 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • The Sophia Center for Spirituality
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...