The God Who’s All Around Us

Long after the angels have flown away and the shepherds have returned to their flocks, the Epiphany season teaches us that, if we pay attention to our lives, the miracle of Christmas lives on.

The Epiphany, celebrated every year on January 6, is the conclusion of Christmastide, those twelve days we know in song. It’s one of seven principal feast days of The Episcopal Church, and it commemorates the manifestation, or revelation, of God among us — in the person of Jesus. Epiphanytide, the season that follows, extends all the way to Lent, the preparation for Easter that begins on Ash Wednesday (which in 2026 falls on February 18).

Traditionally, Epiphany marks the arrival of the Magi (also known as the wise men or the three kings), who travel from afar, following a new star in the sky, to pay homage to the Christ child born in Bethlehem.

Though we might imagine the Magi as devout and religious, they are simply people who are paying attention, says the Rev. Kristin Kaulbach Miles, priest and director for Parish Life at Trinity Church.

“The Magi see something extraordinary rising in the sky, and they follow their curiosity without certainty,” says Mother Kristin. “There’s no map for their journey. They listen to the voice inside them that says there’s potential in this new light, and they take the first step.”

They follow the star to the capital city Jerusalem, where they ask King Herod, a despot representing the Roman Empire, about this newborn Messiah. Herod is afraid, for the long-awaited Messiah is expected to overthrow the tyrannical forces of Rome. So, he hatches a plan.

With intel from the chief priests and scribes, who know the messianic prophesies well, Herod points the Magi to the town of Bethlehem. But he asks them for a favor: “Go and search diligently for the child,” he says, “and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”

The Magi continue on their way, following the star until it stops them in front of a humble home. Scripture says they’re “overwhelmed with joy.” Inside, they find the Christ child with his mother, Mary. They offer him valuable gifts they’ve carried with them — gold and the aromatic resins frankincense and myrrh.

Having been warned in a dream to avoid King Herod, who’s now plotting to murder Jesus, the Magi head home, but not the way they came. Instead, they go “by another road.”

“The Magi go back to where they started. They return to the place they know,” says Mother Kristin. “But that’s not the end of their journey. Their curiosity, their intuition, and their courage have led them to find God in the flesh — to see divine love born in the living, breathing Jesus. After that, nothing is the same; the entire world is brimming with possibility.”

Wonder is the star each of us may follow in search of divine love entering our world.”

The Rev. Kristin Kaulbach Miles

The Epiphany story shows us one of the most faithful things we can do is to pay attention, says Mother Kristin. When we follow our curiosity, like the Magi, we too might find ourselves back where we started. But that’s not the end; it’s a new beginning.

“Wonder is essential to the Epiphany — and to our own epiphanies. It’s the thing that gives us access to what-isn’t-yet and what’s-yet-to-be. It’s the star each of us may follow in search of divine love entering our world,” says Mother Kristin. “Epiphanytide is about looking for the places in our lives where God’s love is born — in our hearts and in our neighbors’ hearts. Even when nothing has outwardly changed, our deepened awareness shapes a new reality. For those who are looking, the night sky is blanketed with stars; God is all around us.”

Poet Jan Richardson captures the beauty of the Magi’s story in “For Those Who Have Far to Travel.” She writes:

If you could see
the journey whole
you might never
undertake it;
might never dare
the first step
that propels you
from the place
you have known
toward the place
you know not.