Happy Epiphany!

Happy Epiphany! Today is the day the Christian Church celebrates the revelation of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God. It is a day which specifically commemorates those Bible events which emphasize this revelation to men, especially the visit of the Gentile Magi to worship the King of glory, the baptism at which the Holy Spirit descends and the voice of God is heard pronouncing Jesus' divinity, and the miracle of the Transfiguration.

It's also the gift-giving Christmas Day for much of the Eastern Church.

And of some importance, at least to Claire and I, is that Epiphany marks the last of a long, delightful and inspiring Christmas season. We will have our last Christmas dinner party tonight (the Schovilles, Warricks and Osbornes will be our honored guests) and we will enact our Epiphany rituals: the listening together of Dylan Thomas' reading of "A Child's Christmas in Wales," the arrival of the Magi, and the telling of stories about the nativity figures (guests participate, by the way) as we wrap them up until next year's Christmas.

Then tomorrow the laborious task of bringing Christmas decorations down begins, the preparations for this month's pro-life marches in Washington, D.C. and Lincoln are solidified, and the thank-you letters are written. Another wonderful Christmas goes into history.

But before the party tonight comes the preparation of dinner and before that a presentation of "When Swing Was King" over at Life Care Center. So, I'd better book!

Again, happy Epiphany!