We usually leave up our decorations through the 12 days of Christmas. We embrace the whole liturgical season, even as our tree starts to brown, decorations are more found on the floor than their proper place, and the Christ candle at the center of the Advent wreath begins to wear down. The last thing to pack away is the star. We hold onto that sacred symbol longer than anything else.
January 6th is always Epiphany, a story of a universal chasing after star-lit hope in the midst of royal fragility, oppressive empire, and isolation, fear, and the vulnerable agency of children at the center of deliverance.
Epiphany has always been mixed with narratives of tyrannical rulers, violent insurrections, and maniacal manipulations. To expect the American experience to be different is #exceptionalism. Still, the hope of the magi is ours, too. And we can choose alternate routes to those laced in what the powers that be, regardless of partisan affiliation, sell us. We may need to cling to Epiphany and its lingering liturgical illumination even longer than Christmas.
What’s your subversive hope?
How might you change routes as you live into star-lit hope this year?