Happy Epiphany!

Another season has arrived. The twelfth day of Christmas was yesterday (yes, we celebrated it, although we didn't have twelve lords a-leaping), and today--January 6--is the Feast of the Epiphany. This obscure day is actually one of my favorite Christian holidays, so I look forward to celebrating it tonight in worship at my church.

So what does one celebrate today? Traditionally the Western church celebrated the appearance of Jesus to the wise men, while the Eastern church celebrates the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River. God's glory--the fullness of God's presence and the theme of this season--is revealed in both instances.

Matthew's gospel alone tells the story of the Magi traveling from the East to Bethlehem to worship Jesus. For Matthew, the narrative symbolizes the revelation of God's glory to the Gentiles, expanding the community of faith beyond the Jewish people. (For Matthew, these are the first converts to Jesus outside of Judaism, which means that our ancestors in the faith are probably Arabs or Persians, and that the church was globalized from its inception. Next time we want to convert Asians or Middle Easterners to Christianity, we might pause to ponder this point.)

Paul, the evangelist to the Gentiles, understood the point of Matthew's story, and that's why the church reads Ephesians 3:1-12 tonight. As Paul describes the mystery in verse 6, "the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel."


The Eastern Church treated this day as a celebration of God's glory being revealed through the baptism of Jesus. This, too, is a mystery revealed: a dove descends and God's voice declares that this is his son, with whom He is well pleased. Focusing on this mystery, the Orthodox call this the Feast of the Theophany (the revelation of God). And that is the core claim of Christian belief: the fullness of God and the fullness of humanity is revealed in Jesus of Nazareth.

The entering of Fullness into time changes everything (not just our approach to globalization). As I ponder this mystery again today, I am glad to be on the journey of another Christian year.

P.S. My favorite reporter at our local newspaper published an informative little story on Epiphany today. Nice to see that solid local journalism is alive in our medium-sized town!

Global Ecology and Food

In Chapter 4 of the book, I focus on how our current eating habits are putting serious pressure on global ecological constraints. It's always nice to know that other people share similar concerns.

Last week's New York Times carried a review of a book by Julian Cribb, The Coming Famine: The Global Food Crisis and What We Can Do to Avoid It, which makes a similar case.

One of the most striking passages in the review came toward the end:

“Even if North Americans and Europeans halved their meat and dairy consumption,” Mr. Cribb writes, “the saving could be completely swamped by the demand from six hundred million newly affluent Indian and Chinese consumers.”

The rise of India and China complicates the idea that the switch to more sustainable eating (eating less, eating locally, eating organic) will avoid a global crisis. Of course, population pessimists since Thomas Malthus have been worrying about the outstripping of food resources by population growth. Thus far, the globalized food system has been able to produce a seeming abundance of food through industrial methods. But at some point we really could run out of earth to sustain the kind of high calorie, high animal protein eating that millions of people now expect.

Eating locally and growing your own garden is a good start, but maybe we can all learn from the Amish (for more on this, see chapter 4). Simple practices of stewardship bear witness to the belief that God's Creation participates in his goodness. Living out stewardship is a practice that demonstrates hope to the world.

Save the Earth: Use Recycled Toilet Paper

Today's Washington Post has a story documenting the toll taken on old-growth forests when we use plush toilet paper. Toilet paper made of recycled paper is better for the environment. Wipe and flush accordingly.