Twelfth Night, Epiphany and the end of the Christmas Season
Christmas Day, Dec. 25, is the day Christianity shakes free of the cultural, commercial Christmas and begins the Christian season of Christmastide.
The 12 Days of Christmas made popular in song aren’t the days before Christmas, they are the days after. They are a daily reminder of the constant presence of God on Earth.
The Twelve Days of Christmas begin on Dec. 26 and conclude with Twelfth Night, observed on the evening of Jan. 5.
The apparent discrepancy comes from the traditional way of counting time, which begins the day at sunset rather than at midnight. Because the count starts on the evening of Christmas Day, the evening of Jan. 5 is the twelfth night—even though only 11 calendar days have passed.
Jan. 6 marks Epiphany, a Christian feast day that traditionally commemorates the arrival of the Magi, or wise men, who came to honor the two-year-old Jesus.
In some Christian traditions, Epiphany also celebrates the baptism of Jesus and the beginning of his Earthly ministry.
The season, known as Christmastide, dates back to before the Middle Ages.
In some ways, Christmastide is a complementing balance to the Lenten season in the spring. During Lent we reflect on ourselves in God and during Christmastide we reflect on God in the world.
The Christmas season is more than what most people think it is. Just as God is more than what most Christians think God is.
God is the baby born on Christmas and every baby ever born, everywhere.
God is in the church on Sunday and walking with refugees on Monday.
God is the life-giving energy of the Sun and the moon rising to reflect the Sun and illuminate the darkness with a power that controls the tides of the Earth.
God is the night sky, filled with millions of stars orbited by thousands of planets, and more wonderful than all the Christmas lights on Earth.The stardust of creation — the DNA of the Creator — courses through each of us, from the Christ child in the nativity manger to the child abused by the government.
God is in all of creation and all of humanity. Every day, in every one.
This is the message of Christmastide. This is the message of Christ.
For more from Jim, follow these links:
The Secret Symbol in a Charlie Brown Christmas
Was Jesus a refugee? Of course he was.
5 Reasons Christians Should be Pro-choice
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Pastor Jim Meisner, Jr. is the author of the novel Faith, Hope, and Baseball, available on Amazon, or follow this link to order an autographed copy. He created and manages the Facebook page Faith on the Fringe.
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