{"id":5029,"date":"2018-01-06T11:29:32","date_gmt":"2018-01-06T16:29:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/?p=5029"},"modified":"2018-01-06T11:29:32","modified_gmt":"2018-01-06T16:29:32","slug":"20cmb18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/20cmb18\/","title":{"rendered":"20+C+M+B+18"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

TWELFTH DAY of CHRISTMAS:
\nEpiphany<\/p>\n

On this final day of the Christmas season, we come to a celebration that was recognized by the Church even before Christmas itself. It is the day tradition tells us the Magi reached the stable to visit the child after their journey following the star that guided them to Bethlehem. Seeing the child was their epiphany, and that is the name of this holyday\/holiday, too: Epiphany.<\/p>\n

In our home, we close the celebration of Christmas on Epiphany night with a simple ceremony at the front door, outside on the front porch. We will gather up all who are in attendance and we will each take turns writing with chalk on the lintel above the front door the numbers and letters and symbols of a traditional inscription. This year, it will read as follows: 20+C+M+B+18. These are the initials of each of the Three Kings (C for Caspar, M for Melchior, B for Balthasar), punctuated by crosses, blanketed on either side by the year. For me, the inscribing is always accompanied by a silent prayer that no one will be missing when we gather next to write the inscription again. Depending on the weather, the inscription may be there above the door for a month or it may be there all the year through. And though Christmas be gone, still the inscription reminds us of Christmas\u2019s\u00a0presence as we pass each day through that portal. The inscription is a magic charm of sorts, protecting the house and those who pass through that doorway, harboring the goodwill and\u00a0spirit of Old Father Christmas.<\/p>\n

And with that, these Twelve Days of Christmas are done. La Befana is back to her sweeping, sweeping Christmas away, too, and we return to ordinary time, back to the workaday world.\u00a0Here’s a poem to help make that shift. It’s a song, actually, one I think of as a Christmas song, though there is nothing about it that specifically says it is… and so maybe it’s perfect for Epiphany and our subsequent return to ordinary time. And so I will leave you with that, ending our 12 day series with something to carry you off, off across the desert land.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

C A R A V A N
\nby Jane Siberry<\/em><\/p>\n

O it was a snowy night
\nThe caravan traveling across the desert land
\nThe stars were hanging heavy
\nIn the absence of light
\nAnd you were there and I
\nAnd something in our hearts
\nTold us to keep on moving
\nBecause there was something about that star
\nThat Star…<\/p>\n

How far is the nearest place to kneel?
\nHow far is the nearest throne?
\nHow far can you go with only a dream?
\nWith only a hope?
\nYou take the vision and you hold it steady
\nRight ahead of you
\nAcross the ranges across the plains
\nThe desert land the gaze of strangers
\nThat is how… Hold It Steady<\/p>\n

There was always someone who would
\nTake the children and keep them entertained
\nThere was always someone who would
\nLay down their work to play the children’s games
\nThere was always someone
\nWho would know how things worked
\nThey’d say… There. Where? Over there.<\/p>\n

And now as we sit on the steps
\nAt the side of the square
\nThere are three wise men sitting in their chairs
\nIf anyone wants to know
\nWhich way any of us should go
\nThey will hold they will contain
\nThey will cup the refrain
\nHold It Steady – Take The Vision
\nHold It Steady
\nRight ahead of you right between the eyes. THAT is how.<\/p>\n

O it was a snowy night and our caravan
\nMoved along through this yet unholy land
\nYou were there and I was there
\nTwo desert boys – we did not understand
\nWe only knew that something grand
\nWas happening – that Star – that night.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thank you, Jane Siberry<\/a>, for allowing me to publish “Caravan” for you here today. You can hear the song\u2013\u2013the version from her 1995 record “Maria”\u2013\u2013here<\/a>… but it was also on her 1997 live album “Child,” and that’s the version from which the lyrics above are taken. Image: A Christmas Creche made of cardboard and foil by artisans in Poland, a gift to us from our friend Walter Chruscinski.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TWELFTH DAY of CHRISTMAS: Epiphany On this final day of the Christmas season, we come to a celebration that was recognized by the Church even before Christmas itself. It is the day tradition tells us the Magi reached the stable to visit the child after their journey following the star that guided them to Bethlehem. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13,34],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5029"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5029"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5029\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5041,"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5029\/revisions\/5041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}