It’s humbling to look at the night sky and imagine all that it has witnessed.
Is there anything more unifying than our shared cosmos? We can’t really buy it, subdue it, or colonize it for our own attribution. Perhaps, such an unadulterated ceiling might have something to reflect on the ground floor.
Our Jesus-following spiritual fore-runners in Western Christian Denominations, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox all celebrated the feast of lights—Epiphany—to commemorate the revelation of God incarnate in Jesus. It’s a holiday to celebrate the manifestation of light. Typically this holiday falls on January 6.
Growing up in a non-denominational church, I was unfamiliar with this Christian celebration regularly observed in universal christian liturgy. So I did some research. The etymology of the word “epiphany” offers us clues into this Christian celebration following Christmas. Loaded with meaning epiphany encompasses the “appearance of dawn,” “of an enemy in war,” and “manifestation of a deity to a worshiper.”
The Light. The Other. The Worshiped One.
I’m really looking forward to observing the feast of lights this upcoming year, complete with scripture readings, meditation, and even some songs to celebrate. As you may have guessed, common lyrics you’ll hear sung on Epiphany include:
We three kings of Orient are;
Bearing gifts we traverse afar,
Field and fountain, moor and mountain,
Following yonder star
O star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect light.
As we wonder at the stars, who else might be wondering underneath this same night sky? The following images have been gathered for your awareness of those around the world “still proceeding” looking to be guided by “thy perfect light.” The subjects include refugees around the world looking for home, peace, and safety. Each image is accompanied with the night sky matching their geographic coordinates.
May we find His light in each other’s skies.
Bangladesh, 23.6850° N, 90.3563° E
Turkey, 38.9637° N, 35.2433° E
Iran, 32.4279° N, 53.6880° E
Syria, 34.8021° N, 38.9968° E
O star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect light.
Born a King on Bethlehem’s plain
Gold I bring to crown Him again,
King forever, ceasing never,
Over us all to reign.
CAMILLE SUTTON
Lyrics by John Henry Hopkins Jr.
Virtual Skies provided by Las Combras Observatory.
Images via Instagram.
Featured Image by Bryan Goff.
