On Wednesday, January 8, our Lower and Middle Schools gathered in Central Moravian Church for an annual tradition: welcoming the new year with the celebration of Epiphany.

On this day, Christians remember the story from Matthew 2:1-12, where Magi from the East follow a star, find the infant Jesus in Bethlehem, and present their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 

Why do we call this the epiphany story? What does the word even mean? Here’s something we tried in Chapel: Take a moment and look around whatever room you're in. As you look, count to ten in your head. Then close your eyes for ten seconds and be as still and silent as you can. When you open your eyes, look around the room again. What do you see that you didn’t notice before? In Central Church, we saw the pattern on the walls, the color coding on the organ, the hand stitched embroidery, the color of our neighbors’ eyes. All of those things were there the first time we looked, we just didn’t see them. And then we did. If you noticed something new when you took a second look, then congratulations because you just had an epiphany.

An epiphany is a sudden unveiling; when we see, discover, or learn something that was always there but we didn’t notice before. It’s that ah hah moment we see in cartoons when a light bulb flashes over a character’s head. So what’s the ah hah moment in the story of the Magi? There isn’t one right answer to this question, even for christians. But we do know the Magi were changed by their encounter because they returned to their own country by a different road.

As we enter the new year, perhaps this story might inspire an epiphany for each of us: What if we each made it our goal to look for God where we least expect God to be? God in the face of a stranger, or an enemy, or working through our own human hands? What if we each made it our goal to consider that leadership might not always look like what we expect? What if the leader we want to follow is not the loudest or biggest or meanest person in the room, but someone who holds up an example we respect, whose kindness we want to adopt for ourselves? What if what we own and how much money or power we have isn’t what makes us valuable? What if we are valuable simply for who we are: children of God, created with a purpose, and given our own star to follow? How might that change the way we see and treat one another, and ourselves, in this new year ahead? Maybe this is a moment where we can collectively close our eyes and open them anew, seeing in each other the beauty, worth, and light we might have missed before.

A special thank you to our Chapel musicians, led by Middle School Music Director Mr. Nathan Diehl, for helping us tell the epiphany story through song. This talented group of students brings Middle School Chapel alive each week with the gift of music, as they lead us in singing and accompany our entrance and exit. Consider this an open invitation to hear them play by joining us for Middle School Chapel most Wednesday mornings at 10:35 in the Old Chapel.

From all of us at Moravian Academy, may the new year bring new vision, new hope, and new light to shine in the darkness.

Watch the service below: