I Am Not Hamlet

If you haven't celebrated Christmas by now, you're not likely to start. Conversely, you don't have to quite let it go yet. Fight the ahistoricity! It's a feast of twelve days and depending on how you count, this is eleven or Epiphany Eve. In the Christian East, tonight is the vigil of Theophany. Theophany/Epiphany are two different sides of the same coin. East vs. West The West honors the Magi--who represent all of us goyim--and the miracle at the wedding at Cana (water for wine, anyone?) The East honors Jesus' baptism, and in more minor ways his circumcision and the Magi, too. It's all about a manifestation, a revealing, a shining forth. The Trinity is revealed (at the baptism), salvation is revealed to all the world (the Magi), the start of Jesus' public ministry (Cana). Just as the Incarnation honors all bodies, as the Son suddenly was born with one, so Theophany honors all the Earth's waters. Paralleling the Jewish Festival ...

I have yet to complete my multi-year meditations on the twelve days of Christmas (I didn't write any last year--one of the worst years of my life) but here I am with number TEN! Courtesy Creative Commons The Christmas decorations may be put away now--at work they are definitely down. There is only the leftover and marked down Christmas branded merchandise at stores. Corpses of Christmas trees are laid at curbs like rejected sacrifices. And yet...Christmas isn't done with you yet. If you'll allow it, you can savor it for two more nights. Forget the artificial deadlines of the culture. Christmas is stronger and more joyous than the Wal-Marts of the world--though at times, admit it, you've thought Christmas has been swallowed by economics. Think of teachers, especially the good ones, and ask St. Elizabeth Ann Seton to pray for them. Think of the ranks of your friends and then ruminate on the 70 Apostles--the next concentric ring outside the non-anonymous 12...