When do the Twelve Days of Christmas begin? On Christmas Day itself - leading us to TWELFTH NIGHT, the eve of Epiphany, January 6.
Through these dozen days, Night Prayer will focus each evening on one
of the many gifts the Christmas season brings us. Tonight: the
gifts of Epiphanies... No partridges in pear trees
here - but you can sing my 12 days to the familiar tune!
On the twelfth day of Christmas,
the good Lord gave to me:
Epiphanies of glory,
Gifts of the Spirit,
Jesus' hands to help me,
God's Word abiding,
Mercy after mercy,
New Year beginning,
Hope for tomorrow,
- Friends as good as gold - Faith in God above,
Angels sent from heaven,
Shepherds keeping watch
And a Child born in Bethlehem town!
epiphany, noun:
- an appearance or manifestation especially of a divine being
- a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature
or meaning of something
- an intuitive grasp of reality through something (such as an event),
usually simple and striking
- an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure
- a revealing scene or moment
Is it your very nature, O God,
to reveal yourself?
to make yourself known?
to disclose your divinity?
to uncover your glory, offering glimpses
of your infinite grace, your primal beauty,
your incomparable strength, your exquisite justice,
your invincible power, your endless mercy,
your dazzling brilliance, your consummate wisdom,
your everlasting kindness - of even your infinite being?
Is such your nature, O God,
or is it that you simply cannot be contained?
That your glory bursts all boundaries,
your light consumes all darkness,
that your very being slips infinity,
suffusing, seeping into every nook and cranny
of all that you've created?
Whatever the case, O God,
I'm grateful for all epiphanies,
large and small, capital or small case e!
I'm grateful for each and every manifestation of your presence,
your love, your care, your healing touch;
for every self-disclosure of your beauty:
in the natural world, in every human face,
in poetry, music and all the arts;
in your love calling us to love
as you have first loved us;
in the work of justice and the harvest of peace;
in the healing of wounds, great and small;
in every word of pardon and every act of mercy;
in your fingerprints,
left warm upon the whole of our experience;
in sacrifice freely made, rendering holy
the smallest of each human deed;
in Jesus, the epiphany of all you are,
of all you offer, of all you'd have us know...
Put a thousand guiding stars up in the heavens, Lord
and point me to the many times and places
where you reveal yourself to me,
in epiphanies of glory
as pure and bright and brilliant
as the star that shone one wintry night
on Jesus, born in Beth'lem town...
Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake
and watch over me while I sleep,
that awake, I might keep watch with you
and asleep, rest in your peace...
Amen.
Let Your Face Shine Upon Us by Marty Haugen
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Lord, let your face shine upon us,
shine upon us, shine upon us.
shine upon us, shine upon us.
1) Listen to my song
hear me when I call, oh Lord my God:
be gracious, hear my prayer.
2) You have called my name,
set your seal upon my heart:
you hear me when I call.
3) Fill me with your joy
grant to me a peaceful rest
to dwell in safety with my Lord.
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