It has been a difficult week. I had intended to post about Epiphany a week ago, at the Feast of the Epiphany, but it isn’t in the nature of Epiphanies to be able to plan ahead. At the Epiphany which we celebrated Jan 6 it wasn’t in the thought process of the three wise men that they would be encountering a baby in a manger—if it had they would have perhaps brought pampers, a car seat (for the journey to Egypt) and a few onesies instead of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
My own journey this past week started at 7 AM Saturday when Michael and I set out for a weekend getaway to Richmond, the excuse being Diocese of Virginia pre-council meetings. Our plan had been to drop Michael off at a hotel so he could nap while I attended the meeting. Well, we got lost in Richmond when our GPS failed us, so we got to St Stephen’s just in time for the meeting. We were greeted at the door by Lindsay Ryland of the Diocesan staff, who turned out to be our guardian angel—she helped us locate an easy to get to hotel and packed up Michael and took him there. After the pre-council meeting I made my way to the hotel—not following a star or GPS but Lindsay’s excellent directions. Michael and I had just pulled out our Richmond guidebooks as the news about the tragic shooting in Tucson broke, and so like most Americans we stayed glued to the TV as more and conflicting reports came out. When evening rolled around we did the only thing that had actually been in our original plans, we went out to dinner at a charming restaurant in the Fan District. The thing about the Fan, the streets have been there longer than modern cars, and they are narrow. There were cars parked on both sides of the street and our car connected with an oncoming one on the passenger sides with quite an impact. No one was physically injured, thank God, although the other driver was pretty freaked out. She was able to drive away but we were not— at 10 PM we returned to our home in Reston by “another way”—in a tow truck.
Sunday was relatively tame--for us anyway. We rested. A good thing, as news of weekend phenomena got worse and worse. Monday brought an email bearing sad news: Jack Corkey, a kind and gentle spirit and mainstay of the Reston/Herndon Community, had passed away Sunday, suddenly and unexpectedly. Then there was an article in the Washington Post about an elderly couple who had become lost driving home from their daughter’s, also on Sunday, and who were found frozen to death near their car, apparently trying to find help.
What was it about last weekend?? Maybe bad things happen every weekend, but last weekend seemed to be filled with them. Which brings us back to epiphanies.
An Epiphany is an “aha” moment, when a new realization makes its way into our lives. For the Three Wise Men, it was “God with us”. For the Reston/Herndon Community it is that life is lived in the present moment and that even a decent, healthy, robust individual can die as Jack did, after a morning jog while preparing to work the Sunday crossword puzzle. For the family of the couple who froze to death, it was that the cost of lovingly according your parents the dignity and respect of independence is knowing that you may lose them under such tragic circumstances. For the American people it is that the manner of our public debate brings the kind of consequences that we saw in Tucson.
For me, I think it is that “God with us” plays out through those around us—as I was standing in the middle of Strawberry Street last Saturday night, police lights flashing and the other driver crying, I called my friend Tanya, who comforted me and stood ready at a moment’s notice to come rescue us in Richmond (which fortunately wasn’t necessary). My mechanic has been offering me the use of a loaner car all week (also not necessary). My sorority sisters and co-workers patiently listened as I told my story while in PTSD mode. My Bishop sent me a kind note after I emailed him to commend our guardian angel Lindsay Ryland. All are the body of Christ, “God with us”.
Yes indeed, it has been a difficult week. But then, once the wise men got back to their own country, and after they had fed the camels, they probably said the same thing. And hopefully they rested.
