Not, my fellow lit jockeys, a sudden intuitive insight. I’m talking about The Feast of Epiphany–the celebration of the coming of the Magi. Although the Three Wise Men often appear in Christmas pagents and nativity scenes, their arrival is officially celebrated on Epiphany, January 6th. It’s called Epiphany in my tradition because it’s the day God’s presence in humanity was revealed to the Gentiles (I am a Gentile) in the form of the three kings from the west.

The delightful Marion Driessen tells me that, in Holland, Epiphany is celebrated as DreiKoningen–Three Kings. A FaceBook connection, Erna Larusdottir, tells me they call it the 13th in Iceland, since it’s the thirteenth day after Christmas.

For me, it’s the day I take down the Christmas decorations. Here is a picture of my three kings, traveling bravely across the dusty plains of the lower shelf of the end table. Today, their weary journey is over, and they can go home as quickly and easily as if a giant hand picked them up and popped them into a tin box. Amazing.

These guys are older than I am, and that’s saying something. A couple of them had close calls when they fell underfoot, but the camels’ legs were easily glued back on.

Today just happens to be the day my church has Food For The Soul, when we meet for lunch at a local restaurant and have a devotion and a yak-fest, and it also happens to be a Southern Indiana Writers Group meeting night, so I’ll be celebrating with friends all day–a happy set of coincidences. 🙂

WRITING PROMPT: Have a character celebrate a festival unexpectedly but appropriately by a set of coincidences. It can be a solemn festival or a joyous one.

MA