Epiphany

I like Epiphany. It may be because of my Anglican roots or perhaps it comes from a latent desire to extend the Christmas season; But on a deeper level I think it's because Epiphany is a theology-twisting, weird-God holy-day. It's the celebration of the revelation of Christ to the gentiles. Three mystical astrologers from other lands see a sign in the sky and follow it to find Christ ... how cool is that? These magical, non-Judea-Christian holy men hearing from God in their own cultural context, through their own spiritual practices, and ending up on their knees before the toddler Messiah? This seriously messes with formulaic Amero-Evangelical-McChristianity. Put that in your purpose-driven pipe and smoke it!

And so I present here two Epiphany award winners:

My first award goes to Izvoru, Romania, where villagers leave their Epiphany church service, have their horses splashed with holy water and then launch into a break-neck horse race (When Stacey hears of this, she may just try to bring this celebration to Canada).

My second award goes to Coptic Pope Shenouda III, seen here celebrating coptic Christmas (which is celebrated at Epiphany). Someone has got to give this guy the recognition he deserves for his Tommy Chong impression (The "insense" smoke surrounding him is a nice enhancement). Plus check the bling on this old dude! (Bonus points go to Shenouda for finding ways to be at peace with Muslims in his native Egypt, without compromising his faith. Bonus points go to Tommy Chong for going to High School in Calgary without red-necking out).