Lord of All Nations, 
We longed to see your face, to hear your voice.
We kept the faith, and reached out in prayer
But too often, we failed to find you. 

And then, one day in time you placed yourself
within reach in the person of a child as vulnerable as any of us. 
King and peasant beheld you, Woman and man,
Slave and free, Jew and gentile. 

For you had come for all. 

“Epiphany,” we called it a living manifestation
of the God we call upon. We have since known other epiphanies:
We have met you in the faces of our sisters,
The grace of our brothers. 

We have met you in the hand that reaches out,
The heart that weeps for the other,  
In the strength of one who protects, 
In the gentleness of one who forgives. 

We have seen your face. 
We have heard your voice. 

As broken as we are –  
As scared and hollowed and sinful 
May others see something of you in us,
May they hear the sound of your voice.
May you be revealed to all nations, 
All peoples on earth. 

May Epiphanies abound. 
Be born in us, O Lord. 

Amen.

Happy New Year to all!