Thank you Jason Espada for this.
So beautiful and wise.
🙏 Molly
Three Kings Day, January 6th, commemorates the recognition of Jesus by wise ones the world over, seeing his divinity as universal, and honoring that symbolically with gifts…
The men in this archetype, it is said, were not just kings, but magi, three wise men.
They were magicians, healers, or holy people, and therefore, they were not just representing worldly, temporal power and authority, but spiritual wisdom and virtue as manifested in different traditions.
Three here indicates diversity.
This is the universal recognition of the divinity of Christ.
I reflect on the part of this story that says the three wise ones followed a star - that divine inspiration guided them to the place where Jesus, the Incarnation, manifest in our world…
* * *
There are many names given in spiritual traditions for what is truly the most important thing in life, what is essential for us each to know.
In Christian language it can be called the virgin birth, revelation, resurrection, witnessing the temple not made of human hands, transubstantiation, and changing water into wine;
All of these terms can be understood as metaphor, referring an inner spiritual experience.
All of these then have the same meaning, of being made new by knowing the Divine.
This can also be called epiphany, which is a kind of waking up - a sudden and complete knowledge.
In the story of the Three Wise Men, Holy Ones from different lands and traditions follow a star, divine guidance, and arrive together to honor the Incarnation of Divinity in our world.
These Kings were named as Melchior, Balthasar, and Caspar, and it is said they were from Persia, Ethiopia, and India, respectively.
I imagine they set out independently, from these far off lands, and traveled long weeks and months to arrive together in Jerusalem. At some point they met and recognized they were all going to the same place, with the same purpose in mind.
They were each religious or spiritual figures, representatives of their own great Traditions.
The significance of them journeying to honor Jesus is that of wisdom recognizing and celebrating the divine in another place, in another culture and tradition.
This event being commemorated can be seen then as one affirming universal truth, of vivifying revelation, and divinity.
It is the model for interfaith wisdom, enrichment, and celebration.
I can imagine Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Jewish and indigenous leaders also journeying long to meet spiritual leaders of other faith traditions. I know this is possible because this has happened in the past, this happening even now, and it will happen also in the future, I am sure.
So this is a joyful week on our calendar, with profound significance for us all.
The word that was chosen to name and commemorate this awakening and coming together is epiphany, which is this universally recognized as an experience of light, of sudden illumination, and of grace and blessings. It is our aha moment when everything changes for us.
When we have any epiphany of a spiritual nature, we find ourselves lifted up, in accord with all those seekers who have come before us, all those living now, and all those who will follow; familial, and transcending traditions.
When rivers meet, they are of one water, and their joining together is beautiful, and bountiful, and of greater power than when they were apart.
The feeling of it is that somehow we were destined to meet. We have been guided to this day and to this sacred event.
Let word go out then. Invite all to this feast, where we know each other as one family, in communion…
— Jason Espada
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