Isaiah 6:8

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Spontaneous Epiphany

Have you ever had an epiphany?  Do you even know what one is?  There are a couple of definitions for an ephipany....the first one is a holiday and not what I am referring to....the second one is where I want to focus....According to Mirriam-Websters dictionary and epiphany is: January 6 observed as a church festival in commemoration of the coming of the Magi as the first manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles or in the Eastern Church in commemoration of the baptism of Christ  2: an appearance or manifestation especially of a divine being  3a (1) : a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something (2) : an intuitive grasp of reality through something (as an event) usually simple and striking (3) : an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure b : a revealing scene or moment.  Have you ever had that moment....you know...the one where everything becomes so crystal clear and you know....this is it.  One of my favorite picces of music is Handel's Messiah, especially the Hallelujah Chorus.  Several months ago I was fortunate enough to sing it at a funeral of a very special lady.  I am telling you....as the choir and congregation sang....the whole church truly lit up...light came streaming in the stained glass windows of the church to the point that the pictures in the glass where unclear....I truly believe that we were in the presence of  God, Mrs. Frances, and all her new angel buddies.  It was amazing.  This has happened to me several times in my life.....when I was singing or speaking in a church and the room lit up with over zealous lights....it is an amazing feeling.  My music buddy, Steve, sent me an email this week and it is an epiphany that I wish I could have been part of. 
"At exactly 12:00 o'clock noon on the final Saturday of October 2010, Macy's shoppers in Philadelphia's Central City Mall experienced what I consider a foretaste of the appearance of Christ when he comes for his people on the last day. Everything appeared normal until the Wanamaker Organ—the world’s largest pipe organ--struck the first notes of Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus." Suddenly more than 650 "shoppers" scattered throughout the area burst into this inspired heavenly praise. These shoppers were actually singers from 28 participating groups, brought together by The Opera Company of Philadelphia. Watch it and weep for joy at
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2010/11/11/hallelujah-chorus-from-handels-messiah-macys/
Truly THIS is an epiphany and all I can say is a very humble....AMEN!

3 comments:

Mary said...

That was incredible. How awesome it must've been to have been there and have seen it!
Someone said that last year during Confirmation, a ray of light came in through the window during the consecration. And, my uncle said that when he was in Medjugorje, there was a ray of light. He looked around the church, and realized that there wasn't a window in there. Amazing!

Mimi said...

How awesome!

xoxo

Mid-Atlantic Martha said...

How wonderful is this? Wouldn't this be just amazing if you were out Christmas shopping and got this experience? I've got a trip to the post office on my list for tomorrow to mail your holiday apron -- I hope you get a picture of you and your open house! Have a wonderful week and Happy Thanksgiving -- I'm so thankful for the blogging friends I've met that I would never know any other way.