A very Gay Epiphany !

      The Feast of the Epiphany teaches me a very important fact in life that is highlighted by the three wise men.  Just as the those travellers from the east went home 'by another road', so too do we alter our courses in life. 

       I suppose the primary lesson today is that when we discover Jesus in our life we never return to the same old way of thinking or acting. If we truly discover Jesus ( and thus calling ourselves a Christian ), we are called to be more open, loving, forgiving and thoughtful. Our actions and life emulate Jesus. According to Scripture we become a new creation. We don't move froward in life as we had lived in the past as that new creation. So the story of the three wise men is a true allegory of what happens when we discover Jesus on a personal level.

        As a gay man, the continual process of coming out is also an allegory for being a follower of Jesus. When you 'come out' and embrace that glorious gift given to you by God, you are forever changed and in many ways you can never go back to the same way of living. You become a new person who has accepted the gift of God and you can no longer act the same way. You are fundamentally changed in accepting yourself and the creation God made you to be. This may be true whether you are a Christian or not but the similarities are staggering. This is an acceptance of an essence that is you. This is not a call to a reckless immoral life. That is what some would try to define you as when you come out. They are Herod. 

           When you come out as being gay, things do change. There are Herod's out there that will not accept you, that wish you harm and are fearful of your life as 'unknown' or foreign. For our part, we are called to move forward. We find that we cannot return to a path of darkness and closeted living. If there are people who will not or cannot accept who we are, you move forward via a different route. The amazing thing is, just a Christ is revealed and shows us a new path of love, so too do countless people on our new path after coming out.  It is a well know fact that there will be people whom you love that will fail you abysmally when you come out and there are virtual strangers and a whole (heavenly?) host of people who will step forward on your new journey to love you as the beautiful and loving creation of God that you are.

          If you are gay, or anyone in that glorious rainbow of LGBTQ, the epiphany is a feast day that speaks to us in many ways, just another gift of God to his beloved children.

Matthew 2:1-12

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’ When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 
“And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
   are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
   who is to shepherd my people Israel.” ’

 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.’ When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.