Epifania / Epiphany + See No Stranger / No veas un extranjero + 1.6.22

-

 


M. Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

Epifania/ Epiphany 2022

(Isaiah 60:1-6 / Isaias; Psalm 72:1-7,10-14/ Salmo; Ephesians 3:1-12/ Efesios; Matthew 2:1-12/ Mateo)

 

“In the beginning, there was wonder. En el inicio, había el asombro. Out in the country, far from the city lights, the night air was clear enough to gaze into the long shimmering galaxy that stretched across the sky. Me gustaría quedar en el campo detrás de la casa de mi familia y hablar con las estrellas como si fueran mis amigos, justo como hable con las vacas detrás del cerco o los caballos en el otro lado de la calle. Once, while playing in a stream, I saw a butterfly dancing over the water and put out my finger and asked it to come to me—and the butterfly came. La mariposa quedaba en mi dedo por un largo tiempo, tan largo tiempo que yo quede mirando sus alas, alabando sus colores antes de que huyo volando. Back then, there was no question: The earth under me, the stars above me, the animals around me, were all part of me. And wonder was my first orientation to them all. El asombro fue mi primera orientación a todo el mundo, la cosa que me conectaba con ellos-you are a part of me I do not yet know.”[1]
Así empieza su libro See No Stranger / en español: No veas un extranjero por Valarie Kaur, un activista y abogado que es norteamericana y sikh. With apologies for my clumsy translation, thus is a bilingual version of how Valarie Kaur’s book See No Stranger begins. And these two concepts of wonder- wonder in the universe, and that of seeing no stranger in each other, are what drive my reading of today’s scriptures, particularly the gospel reading. Cuando y oleo las escrituras de hoy, pienso en el asombro del mundo y también en no ver un extranjero.

Because this story is one of wonder- star of wonder! The wise men, or Kings, or however you see them, journey toward Jesus drawn by the astrological science of their times, and wonder! Los reyes magos estaban guiado en su camino por las estrellas y por el asombro de aquella estrella de tanto fulgor. That star that shone so bright guided their way and showed them the path. Aquella estrella brillante guio a los reyes magos donde estaba Jesús, José y María. Guided them to Mary, Joseph and Jesus. How can we reconnect with the wonder of simply gazing at the stars and looking for God’s guidance, remembering that we are each a tiny but important part of this amazing creation? ¿Como Podemos nosotros mirar hacia los cielos y recordar que somos solo una pequeña parte de esta asombrosa creación, y buscar nuestro guía en Dios?

Later in her book, Valarie Kaur says: “When we choose to wonder about people we don’t know, when we imagine their lives and listen for their stories, we begin to expand the circle of those we see as part of us. We prepare ourselves to love beyond what evolution requires.” And this, too, makes me think of the wise men. In Mary, Joseph and Jesus they encountered people wholly different from themselves- in background and education. And yet they became the righteous pagans- the ones who would see the truth in Jesus before others would because they refused to see him as a stranger.
Mas tarde en su libro, Valarie Kaur dice: “Cuando elegimos pensar con asombro sobre las personas quienes no conocemos, cuando imaginemos sus vidas y buscamos sus historias, empezamos a expandir el circulo de los que vemos como una parte de nosotros. Nos preparamos para amar más allá de lo que la evolución requiere (Mi traducción).” Y esto es lo que hicieron los reyes magos, los sabios del oriente. Ellos vinieron, guiados por la estrella a este encuentro con Jesús, José y María y en ellos no vieron extranjeros. A partir de sus diferencias de trasfondo, de educación y religión, ellos vieron la verdad en Jesús. Fueron unos paganos rectos, los que vieron la salvación que Jesús trajo al mundo antes de los demás.

And so, for us, this is the good news and the challenge of Epiphany. How can we look at others and see no stranger? How can we listen for God’s guidance and take in the wonder of creation while doing so? So that we, too, can learn to love beyond what evolution requires?
Esta es la buena nueva y a la vez el desafío del día de la Epifanía. ¿Como podemos mirar a los demás y no ver unos extranjeros? ¿Como podemos buscar el guía de Dios y ver el asombro de su creación a la vez? Para que nosotros también podemos amar más allá de lo que la evolución requiere.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Faith or Fear? Advent 1C

-
Melissa Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard Year C + Advent 1 (Jeremiah 33:14–16; Ps. 25:1–9; 1 Thess. 3:9–13; Luke 21:25–36) So… what are you going to do when you stand before the man with the holes in his hands? Now that may seem like a strange question to ask this first Sunday in December.  Surely, Pastor Melissa, we’re gearing up for jollity, not getting ready to meet our maker? But in a sense we are, always, all the time, waiting for Jesus, and I think that’s what Advent is really all about.  Reminding us that we are always waiting not just for the Christ Child to come and be born in our midst, but that we are also waiting for that awesome, if slightly scary Second Coming of Christ. And it is true that this passage talks about distress and the roaring of the waves.  And many looked at the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy, that iconic image of the ocean-side theme park, including a Ferris Wheel, in the waves, and many said, this is something w...
Read more

Proper 20 (B) + A community of power + 9.23.18

-
Image
M. Campbell-Langdell All Saints, Oxnard (Proverbs 31:10–31; Ps. 1; James 3:13–4:3, 7–8ª; St. Mark 9:30–37) Take a moment and think of the most powerful positive woman figure you know – in your life or in your favorite movie, show or book. Who is the woman who has most inspired you? Keep that image of that woman in mind as we look at this passage from Proverbs Chapter 31. Now here we see the verse “A capable wife who can find?” And all the feminists amongst us will be relieved to hear that a better translation from the Hebrew would be: “a woman of power” instead of a “capable wife.” [1] That changes things, doesn’t it? Then when we hear about this ideal ancient Hebrew woman’s exploits – her buying of lands, her trading prowess, her physical strength, even her domestic abilities such as weaving, and perhaps especially her kindness to the poor, we see strength and power in all of these. Of course, looking at this passage, this is not one woman but a concept of the most...
Read more

Proper21BAcceptingourownwounds29sept24

-
  Accepting our own and other’s wounds Mark 9: 38-50   St Michael’s, Isla Vista / All Saints Oxnard The Rev. Alene Campbell-Langdell; MCL additions   May I just start this morning by acknowledging that our Gospel reading is complex.   The images are startling (horrifying?) and the metaphors come almost too quickly to catch.   What is clear is that something serious is going on between Jesus and his disciples, and Jesus is using every means possible, including some pretty harsh language, to try to course correct.   To even begin to understand this passage, we need to back up to last week’s reading from Mark.   In that reading, the disciples are arguing with each other about who is the greatest and best disciple.   In response, Jesus gets a little kid, some commentators say “toddler,” and holds this child in his arms during the rest of the conversation.    The other part of the scene to keep in mind is that Jesus has just told...
Read more