"Eleven pipers piping" reportedly symbolize the eleven Apostles who remained faithful after the betrayal of Judas Iscariot. However, the number 11 has other significance.
In numerology, 11 is a master number, which means it has a high vibrational frequency and deep spiritual significance. It's considered a bridge between the physical and spiritual realms, and a symbol of intuition, enlightenment, and personal growth. People with 11 in their numerology charts are said to have a strong connection to the universe.
In China, 11 represents the union of the sky and the earth. In African esoteric traditions, it's related to the mysteries of fruitfulness.
Seeing the number 11 frequently is sometimes called an "angel number". It can be a sign from the universe or guardian angels to pay attention to your intuition and spiritual journey.
So, there it is, then. You get to pick the significance of the symbol when you sing it. Just please do try to remember that there are 12 whole days to Christmastide. So many of the same people who sing that song with enthusiasm still throw their Christmas tree to the curb on December 26th. Makes me so sad.
We take down our Christmas Tree on the Epiphany but we keep our house lights and multiple Creche (Nativity) Sets up through the Feast of the Presentation. Because, you know, that's just how we roll here at Llangollen.
We are fast approaching the Feast of the Epiphany - January 6th - when the "Three Intellectuals from the Orient" came to pay homage to the Newborn Jesus. I'm preaching at the 5 PM tonight and the 8 AM tomorrow but the Epiphany Pageant will be the sermon at the 10.
I understand that the children and a few adults who are young at heart will tell the story with word and song. And, costumes. There must be costumes. Lots of old, plush, earth-toned towels and colorful striped sheets. And, walking sticks, small boxes and Burger King crowns. There might even be a few tinfoil angel wings and tinsel halos.
I love Epiphany Pageants even more than Christmas Pageants.
We'll also have The Chalking of The Doors tomorrow which I think I love even more than Epiphany Pageants. The boss is away with his spouse on Christmastide break, so I'll be blessing the chalk and handing it out to folks, along with a copy of a liturgy they can do in their own homes.
There are lots of resources out there to guide you through it. Here's a lovely one from The Table, an Episcopal Church in Indianapolis, IN., which you can download https://www.thetableindy.org/epiphany-tradition-chalking-of-the-door/
If you don't have "blessed chalk" it's fine to use regular chalk. And if you chalked your door last year, you really should take a moment to wipe it down and start fresh. I think there's something symbolically important about that.
Here's a little something about The Epiphany which I learned years ago from Walter Brueggemann:
For centuries, noble scholars of Torah, Talmud and Mishnah thought that the prophecy of Isaiah 60 meant that the King of the Jews would be born in Jerusalem. However, there was another, smaller, less significant school of thought that remembered the prophecy of Micah 5:4 and thought it more accurate that Bethlehem would be the place.
Bethlehem is 9 miles south of Jerusalem and was as humble and lowly a town as Jerusalem was a large, busy city. Turns out, the elite scholars were off by only 9 miles but might have been worlds apart for what that meant in terms of expectations about The Savior - as well as the nature of that salvation.
I've been thinking that it is inherent in the very nature of epiphanies that we get to them by unexpected routes. I think we have to get lost a few times and we sometimes have to travel a few miles off a road well-traveled before we get to see or experience what it is we need to see or experience.
As my friend of blessed memory, Jonathan Haggar AKA "Mad Priest" used to say, "Of course, I could be wrong." But, I think that, too, is inherent in the very nature of epiphanies. You really don't know you're not wrong until you discover that, in fact, you're right.
Or, vise versa.
Problem is, that the process could take years. In the case of the Three Intellectuals from the Orient, it took approximately 33 years until the events unfolded in such a way that the ancient prophecies were revealed to be true. That's an entire generation. It took a few more generations for it to be revealed just what kind of Sovereign and salvation this particular Messiah would bring.
Meanwhile, we retell the story and chaulk our doors and wait expectantly for Jesus to return. In the process, it might do us well to look in unexpected places and listen to still, small voices and be very wary of directions given by people with great power who say they mean to do us good.
It's the seeking that's even more important than the finding. As Paulo Cohelo writes in The Alchemist, “The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.”
I hope something good happens to you today.
Bom dia.
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