Feast of the Epiphany, Sunday, 06 Jan-08.

The Epiphany - a curious word. James Joyce used it too, but in relation to his writing. Over in Europe it is called the Feast of the Three Kings, or simply the three Kings. Some countries over there make quite a festival of it. Even Protestant countries like the Netherlands have special services on this day. The great organ in the Parish Church in the square at Delft will be ringing out to the roof beams with Bach, I feel sure. That really is a great organ, and it is played by a great organist too. Who knows who the three Kings were really. They are highly symbolic of being from different parts of the world, all paying homage to a child; the Son of God, sent to redeem us all with love, compassion and acceptance. For the Christian this should result in us also loving others and having compassion and forgiveness in our hearts. Love, compassion and forgiveness are Christian virtues. I often wonder what other religions feel about these Christian virtues. They often interpret the Bible with hatred, punishment and retribution. I wonder where on earth that gets us all. Now the three Kings - well, we do know who they are by name, as the Bible tells us, but to me they tell of the great journeys they made, all to have a relationship with a baby. The effect of that, throughout 2000 plus years of Christianity has had an overall beneficial effect upon all who believe in the love of God through Christianity. Of course, not all who believe, adhere to the tenets of the faith and history tells us about the religious wars, all of which failed to achieve God's command that we love one another, for love is of God. The revelation of Jesus as a helpless child who would save mankind for all who believe, is a powerful message, for all who believe will be granted a place with God.
Islam has now been labelled as the Devil religion, which perpetrates violence and Islamic killers quote the Qoran that tells them that it is OK to kill those who do not believe as they believe. Everyone is worried about meeting Muslims now. Even more so is meeting Muslim women covered from head to toe in black material. In the west, black is a symbol of death, of mourning, of the 'bad guys'. Again, folk worry that such women may be suicide bombers who don't see God's gift of human beings as important. Now the President of a Glasgow Mosque gave a gift to me of The Qoran after doing a service for a member of that Mosque. I was intrigued to read it. It is difficult to follow if you compare it with the Bible, but nonetheless I did not find instructions to kill everyone who is not a Muslim. I did find a code of good living, and of a discipline of inner belief in God, made explicit through daily prayers and family living. Of course, Islam is a relatively new religion, compared with Christianity, i.e., it developed, as we did, as a breakaway from Judaism, albeit some hundreds of years after the birth of Jesus. Their modus operandi does remind me of Judaism, which is not surprising. Indeed, when visiting a Synagogue in Glasgow to hear the Chief Rabbi, Dr Jonathan Sachs, on behalf of our Diocesan Bishop, I was struck with the similarity in the form of morning service. Although I don't understand Hebrew I knew where we were in the service at any one time, and I knew that when the Reader stood up to read from the Scrolls ( we would say at Mattins 'Here beginneth the...' I just knew he was saying 'It is written...' i.e., if it is written, it is true. The Reader in the days of Jesus would have said the same thing. Indeed, we know that Jesus stood up to read from the Hebrew Bible, so he would have said that too. So, our traditions, including the Holy Eucharist, are taken from Judaism originally, as is Islam. The Muslims I know are all God-fearing and devout believers in the Word as revealed by Mohammed, whose name is blesséd. They are all peaceful family folk who condemn violence, even by their 'ain folk who are terrorists. This is no different than the killings in Northern Ireland between Catholics ( whatever that word means to an Episcopalian!) and Protestants ( whatever that means nowadays ). So Christians cannot blame Islam - it's all to do with how folk are taught their religion, which begets that society should look at training of priests, ministers and imams in the UK. Imams and those clergy from abroad who perpetuate violence should be ejected from the UK to where they came from.
The revelation at the Epiphany of a child, is one of love, hope and a new life. We should all pay homage to that.