CELEBRATE DIVERSITIES
EPIPHANY
Once President G. Ford was asked to name three persons he considered as the greatest of the century. The first name he mentioned was the name of Gandhi. He had chosen Gandhi’s name because he was a great unifier. He sacrificed his life to bring people together.
The message that the world would like to hear today is the message of dialogue, understanding and unity. Unity is possible if we reach out to the outsiders. The world is divided into two: Insiders and outsiders. This division is based on territory, language, color, culture, religion and so forth. The outsiders are most of the time viewed as potential threat to the insiders. As a result, we are either offensive or defensive in our approach to the outsiders.
The feast of the epiphany invites us to think in a new way. The word epiphany simply means manifestation. In our religious context, it is the manifestation of God to the world. In the birth of Jesus God manifested His intention to the world. By choosing a human body for the incarnation, God joined the human family; God incorporated us into His family. The prophet Simeon took the child Jesus in his hands and said: This day I have seen salvation. This child is a light to the gentiles. Jesus came to remove the Old Testament concept of dividing people as ‘God’s people and No people’. What Jesus did consistently all through his life was to remove the barriers that separate one person from the other.
The feast of the Epiphany, traditionally understood as the visit of the three Maggie to the Child Jesus, symbolically reveals the above said truth. According to one tradition, these three Kings represented three different categories of people: the White, the Black and the Brown. The presence of Jesus brought them together. In the presence of Jesus, they discovered their true image. The question is: Who am I? Am I a divider or Unifier?
To achieve unity we have to go through a radical transformation in our thinking. This may include a number of progressive steps.
LOOK OUT
The Three Wise Men “looked out”. We do not possess the full Truth. The entire universe together constitutes the full reality. Hence, to see this reality, we need to “look out”. All things in this world are symbols that point to the truth. These wise men were kings, they were self sufficient in many ways but they had the humility to explore different possibilities. They “looked out” and they saw the “star”, the symbol of a greater reality. A person who thinks that he knows everything, holds his values as absolute and he does not need help from outsiders, will not see the star of possibilities. The problem with Herod was that he was not willing to look beyond himself.
STEP OUT
The Three Wise Men stepped out of their palaces. It is not enough to simply see the reality. We need to have the courage to step out from our own little ‘palaces of security and world of illusion’ to see the truth and embrace it. The three wise men took the risk. They stepped out of the palace and made the dangerous trip. Very often we travel the wrong path, our values and beliefs are not authentic. But we are not ready to change because we don’t want to take the risk. Success belongs to the Brave.
REACH OUT
After a long, tiresome adventurous and risky journey, the three Kings arrived at the place where Jesus was. They reached out to Jesus out and embraced him. Definitely, they were not sure about the Divine origin of Jesus. The environment did not prove anything either. However, thanks to their willingness to step out of themselves, these three wise men finally reached Jesus, the truth, the way and the Life.
FIND OUT
The meeting with Jesus opened up a new horizon for them. They surrendered what they thought absolute. They found out a New Way and returned home on this way. Herod on the other hand, thought he was everything and had seen everything. He thought of himself as the center of reality. He stepped in to his own world. He was afraid of facing the realities. He looked in, stepped in, and stuck in.
In order to include outsiders into our fold, we need to follow the same steps. A person who lives outside of our geographical territory is no less than us. Diversity is a reality. Every culture expresses certain aspects of Truth. It is not in suppressing diversity but celebrating differences that we make the universe beautiful and bring glory to God. We belong to God and we belong to one another.
EPIPHANY
Once President G. Ford was asked to name three persons he considered as the greatest of the century. The first name he mentioned was the name of Gandhi. He had chosen Gandhi’s name because he was a great unifier. He sacrificed his life to bring people together.
The message that the world would like to hear today is the message of dialogue, understanding and unity. Unity is possible if we reach out to the outsiders. The world is divided into two: Insiders and outsiders. This division is based on territory, language, color, culture, religion and so forth. The outsiders are most of the time viewed as potential threat to the insiders. As a result, we are either offensive or defensive in our approach to the outsiders.
The feast of the epiphany invites us to think in a new way. The word epiphany simply means manifestation. In our religious context, it is the manifestation of God to the world. In the birth of Jesus God manifested His intention to the world. By choosing a human body for the incarnation, God joined the human family; God incorporated us into His family. The prophet Simeon took the child Jesus in his hands and said: This day I have seen salvation. This child is a light to the gentiles. Jesus came to remove the Old Testament concept of dividing people as ‘God’s people and No people’. What Jesus did consistently all through his life was to remove the barriers that separate one person from the other.
The feast of the Epiphany, traditionally understood as the visit of the three Maggie to the Child Jesus, symbolically reveals the above said truth. According to one tradition, these three Kings represented three different categories of people: the White, the Black and the Brown. The presence of Jesus brought them together. In the presence of Jesus, they discovered their true image. The question is: Who am I? Am I a divider or Unifier?
To achieve unity we have to go through a radical transformation in our thinking. This may include a number of progressive steps.
LOOK OUT
The Three Wise Men “looked out”. We do not possess the full Truth. The entire universe together constitutes the full reality. Hence, to see this reality, we need to “look out”. All things in this world are symbols that point to the truth. These wise men were kings, they were self sufficient in many ways but they had the humility to explore different possibilities. They “looked out” and they saw the “star”, the symbol of a greater reality. A person who thinks that he knows everything, holds his values as absolute and he does not need help from outsiders, will not see the star of possibilities. The problem with Herod was that he was not willing to look beyond himself.
STEP OUT
The Three Wise Men stepped out of their palaces. It is not enough to simply see the reality. We need to have the courage to step out from our own little ‘palaces of security and world of illusion’ to see the truth and embrace it. The three wise men took the risk. They stepped out of the palace and made the dangerous trip. Very often we travel the wrong path, our values and beliefs are not authentic. But we are not ready to change because we don’t want to take the risk. Success belongs to the Brave.
REACH OUT
After a long, tiresome adventurous and risky journey, the three Kings arrived at the place where Jesus was. They reached out to Jesus out and embraced him. Definitely, they were not sure about the Divine origin of Jesus. The environment did not prove anything either. However, thanks to their willingness to step out of themselves, these three wise men finally reached Jesus, the truth, the way and the Life.
FIND OUT
The meeting with Jesus opened up a new horizon for them. They surrendered what they thought absolute. They found out a New Way and returned home on this way. Herod on the other hand, thought he was everything and had seen everything. He thought of himself as the center of reality. He stepped in to his own world. He was afraid of facing the realities. He looked in, stepped in, and stuck in.
In order to include outsiders into our fold, we need to follow the same steps. A person who lives outside of our geographical territory is no less than us. Diversity is a reality. Every culture expresses certain aspects of Truth. It is not in suppressing diversity but celebrating differences that we make the universe beautiful and bring glory to God. We belong to God and we belong to one another.
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