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 can compare partaking in my daughter's baptism today to only three other events in my life: my wedding, her birth, and my son's birth. There is a holy pride (if such a thing exists) bursting forth as she descends into Christ's death and rises up a new creation. The thing is a mystery--how it all works--and yet so tangible. The wet of water, the grasping of hands, the flame of lit candles. What a glorious day to be baptized! Easter 2009. He lives, not just in my heart, but by the power of the Holy Spirit is immanent in all of His creation. The sun was just a bit brighter and warmer today. The one disappointment? Entering the East side of the baptismal fount and exiting at the West. Ah, the joys of ahistorical Evangelicalism!