Epiphany: the journey of wisdom

For Roman Catholics in the United States, today is Epiphany. Traditionally, and even now among most Western Christians who follow the liturgical calendar, Epiphany is on 6 January- the Twelfth Day of Christmas. "Twelfth Night" celebrations still happen among Christians in other countries. But for Roman Catholics in the U.S., Epiphany falls on the second Sunday after Christmas. We observe the Feast of the Holy Family on the Sunday immediately following Christmas Day.

Rather than the liturgical season of Christmas ending earlier for Catholics in the U.S., it ends later. For us, the Christmas season extends to the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which this year is next Sunday, 10 January.

In English, the traditional translation of magi is "wise men" (magus=wise man). This is the source of bumper stickers and the like that insist "Wise men follow him still." A wise person, of course, is one who possesses wisdom.

First thing this morning, I read R.S. Thomas's short poem about the Epiphany, "The first king."

The first king was on horseback.
The second a pillion rider. [a "pillion" is a motorbike]
The third came by plane.

Where was the god-child?
He was in the manger
with the beasts, all looking

the other way where the fourth
was a slow dawning because
wisdom must come on foot
(from Carys Walsh Frequencies of God: Walking Through Advent with R.S. Thomas, 165)

Wisdom is not just a journey. It is a slow journey, a pilgrimage. After all, what sense would it make to travel the Camino de Santiago on horseback, by motorcycle, or helicopter?

In this context, "Wisdom" is a translation of the Greek word Sophia, who is the subject of the Book of Wisdom. Despite being in the Hebrew Bible, the Book of Wisdom was originally composed in Greek, not Hebrew. Sophia can be said to be something like the twin of Logos. The recently deceased John P. Mackey, in his one-volume systematic theology Christianity and Creation: The Essence of the Christian Faith and Its Future Among the Religions, wrote wonderfully about Wisdom/Sophia. Sophia. Mackey asserted that Sophia "refers to a learning of the truth by walking a way, by living a life" (43).

Because Wisdom is infinite and we are finite (all too finite), it is not a fixed destination. It is not a journey to Wisdom but a journey of Wisdom. In his classic novella The Other Wiseman, Henry Van Dyke describes this journey very well.

In Van Dyke's story, Artaban (the fourth wise man) sets out to pay homage to the royal infant. He brings exquisite jewels, including "the pearl of great price," to present to the King. En route he is repeatedly waylaid by people who need his help. Like the Good Samaritan, by helping those in need whom he encounters he incurs costs. So many costs, in fact, that eventually he even gives up "the pearl of great price." He does not encounter the King until arrives in Jerusalem in time for this King's crucifixion. Artaban dies after a lifetime of following the way of wisdom, even if he does so more or less does do unknowingly, all while having horizon always extend before him.

As Carys Walsh describes it, Artaban's "is a slow journey, of a slow wise man, who never reaches his 'goal' but is forever caught up in the gradual shaping of faith and following" (Frequencies of God, 167). For Artaban it is as Thomas describes it- "a slow dawning/because wisdom must come on foot."

"Simply I learned about Wisdom, and ungrudgingly do I share - her riches I do not hide away; for to people she is an unfailing treasure; those who gain this treasure win the friendship of God, to whom the gifts they have from discipline commend them" (Wisdom 7:13-14- more or less my own translation). This passage from the Book of Wisdom seems relevant to Van Dyke's story about Artaban, the wisest of the wise men.

As to the gifts wrought by discipline, let us not forget that the spiritual disciplines, particularly the fundamental ones taught us by the Lord himself- prayer, fasting, and alms-giving, are but means to the end of loving God fully by loving your neighbor as you love yourself. As the story of Artaban and the Parable of Good Samaritan both demonstrate, your neighbor is the person whom you encounter who needs your help. Hence, Wisdom lies in making yourself a neighbor, a companion on the way, to avoid mixing metaphors.

In terms of our own journeys as Christians, given that whatever wisdom we might possess at any given time is broken and incomplete, perhaps part of the difficulty we have evangelizing is we offer answers that are too certain and/or facile. Our answers are often abstract and delicate, easily crushed by the weight of experience. Perhaps evangelizing consists of telling those who express interest in it about your own journey and inviting them along. Wisdom, then, is not one big epiphany but consists of many epiphanies, some may negate previous ones. Only those who wander are not lost. Truth is a journey because truth is an experience.