By Bridget Bearss, RSCJ
We near the end of the journey to Epiphany and the long awaited gifts have now arrived.
The Three Kings didn't arrive with my gifts in tender transformation of presence in mystical messages of new hope. Rather, I ran into the Kings at Starbucks, one of the cathedrals of serenity in the midst of insanity, I almost missed their presence as their attire spoke of those who had traveled into conversion of heart -- that knowing look of being known and loved for who you really are. I was surprised when the they joined me, interrupting my solitude and inviting me to dislodge the ear buds so that I could hear the inner whispers unavailable in the shadow of the "Boss."
With a hint of accent I could not discern they handed me the gifts intending to become the trailer for the year that unfolds before me. Three gifts to be discovered as they are lived, like the great messages of life, only understood in retrospect, but drawing me forward...explaining in simple words of whispered tone:
Time: "The great illusion of your culture. You work less but feel like you work more. You are mobile, but immobilized. You seek balance but forget that there is something greater that calls you. Stand still in time and there is enough. Spend it in matters that violate your heart and there is never enough. Receive the gift of choosing time."
Trash: "A New Year rings in with resolutions that define what you think is the problem. Short-lived change transforms very little. Examine the bag of trash that you have collected. Have you deposited the trash from the year gone by which continues to hurt you -- the remembrances whose regurgitation holds back the creative energy -- the hurts that you refuse to forgive yourself for -- the missed opportunities that are not restored with recitation. Throw it away. Make space for the gift."
Trust: "There are no guarantees. There is no security that will prevent you from the risk that happens when you choose to be alive. There is no perfect policy, program, plan or person...just the chance to begin with the empty tumbler of trust -- where there is space to "assume good will" and create the Kingdom, one choice at a time. The best way to be trusted is to be trustworthy. Take the Leap -- Trust the impossible."
And then, I was there alone again at the round table with my tablet and my Venti red cup and the gifts of the Magi...and I knew for sure that "God With Us" didn't happen then...it is now.
Image by Sonja Langford
