Epiphany Gift!
Sophia Wisdom works within us and throughout our world. She Lives! “Look, look, for She is here; Her wisdom words have long been near.”
Here is an Epiphany gift to you: Vocal Divine singing “What Wondrous Thing” at a concert in A Woman’s Eye (AWE) Gallery, adjacent to Ebenezer/herchurch Lutheran, San Francisco (Pastor Stacy Boorn).
Vocal Divine (left to right): Lana Dalberg, Dionne Kohler, Kathleen Neville Fritz, and Alison Newvine
Words © Jann Aldredge-Clanton, from Inclusive Hymns for Liberating Christians (Eakin Press, 2006).
Epiphany is the traditional Christian feast celebrating the manifestation of the divine nature of Jesus to the Gentiles, represented by the Magi. Traditionally observed on January 6, Epiphany can occur anytime, anywhere. Epiphany is not limited to the experience of the Magi. “Epiphany” has come to mean “any revelation of divine being.” Epiphany continues to happen where minds and souls are open. Revelations of divinity surprise us with newness, just as the revelation of divine being lying in an animal feeding trough startled the Magi.
The fullness of divinity has long been hidden under layers of exclusively masculine sacred images. Female divine images may at first startle us with their unexpectedness. Because of our culture’s long devaluing of females, we may even feel that female names are not lofty enough to carry divinity, just as the Magi must have at first wondered if divine revelation could come in the form of a small infant in a manger.
The early church believed that Jesus was a revelation of Sophia (Greek for “Wisdom”). Early Christians associated Jewish wisdom literature’s personified Sophia with Jesus, believing Jesus to be the incarnation of divine Sophia. But many Herods along the path of Christian history, in order to secure their own power, have tried to destroy the revelation of divine Sophia. Sophia has been hidden, but She could never die.
This song, “What Wondrous Thing” also refers to Jeremiah 31:22: “God has created a new thing on the earth: a woman protects a man.” That “new thing” that began long ago in Jeremiah’s day is springing up on a larger scale today as individuals, churches, and other organizations discover the great need for women’s gifts for the healing of our world. As Bridget Mary Meehan, Bishop in the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, states, “Women priests remind us that women are equal symbols of the Holy. Females and males are created equally in God’s image. Until we integrate the Divine Feminine in our religious systems, in our structures, and in our whole approach to life, we will be flying on one wing. We will not be whole. We will have the patriarchal domination continuing, and that obviously is leading the world and religion to destruction. The patriarchal model is not working for people. It’s not of the Spirit.”
Now the egalitarian model is emerging, including women’s gifts and power to save life. “Look, look, for She is here; Her wisdom words have long been near. Now, now, behold Her grace, Divinity in Her image.”
Vocal Divine creates music for Ebenezer/herchurch Lutheran, San Francisco and other venues. Vocal Divine, recorded “HER Sacred Songs,” along with Katie Ketchum, Gary Floyd, and Steve Rausch. The CD is available through herchurch.