Kasisi Facing Mt. Kenya

Viva Prof. Wangarĩ Maathai, Viva Kenya, Viva Africa!

2011-09-29T10:21:00.000-04:00

It seems to me that Kenyans still do not appreciate how far we have come. As we mourn and plan to bury Prof. Wangarĩ Maathai may she remind us of the struggle and the dangers we had to endure to win our freedom. Freedom is never given in a silver platter. I am glad Wangarĩ lived to see the fruits of her struggle. Viva Prof. Wangarĩ Maathai, Viva Kenya, Viva Africa. Forward marching, ever.

"I Will Be A Hummingbird" - Wangari Maathai

2011-09-26T22:27:00.000-04:00

Prof Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace laureate and conservation heroine

2011-09-26T00:22:00.001-04:00

Nobel peace laureate Wangari Maathai dies in Nairobi

The world has lost a precious jewel. You may have passed on Wangaari Maathai but your transformative work lives on. Green Belt Movement Always on My Mind. Fare Thee Well, Till We Meet.

Defining Postcolonialism

2011-09-24T17:03:00.000-04:00

At a time when we are witnessing a re-colonization of Africa through the United Nations or International Criminal Court (ICC), it is important for us to fully reassess our understanding of freedom and justice. Postcolonialism offers a good starting point. In my opinion, postcolonial criticism offers the best theoretical and methodological tool to help analyse and interpret the re-colonization process. But what in the world is Postcolonialism?

Postcolonialism is a much contested term. In certain disciplines, postcolonialism is defined as scrutinizing and exposing colonial domination and power as they are embodied in texts, structures and attitudes, and as searching for alternative ways while thus overturning and dismantling colonial perspectives. According to Fernando Segovia, postcolonialism takes seriously the reality of the empire, of imperialism and colonization, as “an omnipresent, inescapable and overwhelming reality in the world.” Since colonization was not just about soldiers and cannons but also about forms, images and imaginings, postcolonial inquiry is helpful in investigating the issues of empire, nation, ethnicity, migration, human subjectivity, race and language.

As a concept “postcolonialism” though problematic helps bring together a number of issues, even conflicting ones. First among these can be located in the term “colonialism”. When using the term colonialism, I am aware of the fact that legacies of colonialism are varied and multiple even as they obviously share some important features. European colonialism was not a monolithic operation; rather right from its inception, it deployed diverse strategies and methods of control and of representation.

Nonetheless, whenever the term is invoked, it draws immediate reaction from both sides of the aisle. Chinua Achebe points out those from the former colonies who see today’s indictment of colonialism as a brand of “cheap, demagogic and outmoded rhetoric.” To this group, the term conjures an image of people’s inability to take responsibility of their problems. This group from the formerly colonized countries looks at the African inglorious past as paralleled to modern day African failed state of affairs. In other words, rather than deal with their own failures, in self-defence the formerly colonised people resort to apportioning blame to others for their problems.

On their part, people from the former colonizing world see ingratitude. The group juxtaposes blessings of civilization that Europe brought to Africa against modern day African return of ingratitude. They are quick to remind that the postmodern powers repudiate colonial missteps and in order to make up for these missteps, new relationships of equality between once-colonised and colonizers have been established.

However, without merely apportioning blame and self-righteousness, there is a real need to investigate this rather complex relationship that developed with all of its totalizing discourses. The primacy and even the complete centrality of colonialism was so totalizing in its form, attitudes and gestures, that it virtually shut out any innovation or alternatives within the colony. Rather than accept colonialism as simply a divine project undertaken for the glory of God and an extension of the rule of law, through postcolonial inquiry we are able to understand that colonialism and all its manifestations both in intentions and acts was an integral part of capitalist development. Colonialism as Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Aimé Césaire remind us is a practise and not a theory. It is a historical process and not a metaphysical idea; a relationship of power at the economic, political and cultural levels.

Besides the domination of physical space, the other important aspect of colonialism was in its ability to persuade the colonized people to internalize colonial logic and speak its language. In the commonly known process of “colonising the mind”, the colonized succumbed by accepting the lower ranking in the colonial order while assimilating the values and assumptions of the colonizers. Colonialism suggested certain ways of seeing reality and specific modes of understanding that reality. In the end it offered explanation as to the place of the colonized in the colonial world which in almost all cases was a subservient position while rendering the colonizer as superior in all ways.

It is in this subtle dynamic that led to the internalization of certain expectations about human relationships that colonialism was effectively devastating. Through language, colonialism took upon itself the power of describing, naming, defining, and representing the colonised. Since language, as wa Thiong’o has offered, is the carrier of culture and values by which we perceive ourselves and our place in the world, colonization by imposing upon the colonized a particular value-system it succeeded in denigrating the colonized’s cultural values. Therefore, postcolonial inquiry as wa Thiong’o articulates, brings to the fore the questions of language and their importance in answering the question of identity and being.

The other important aspect of postcolonial inquiry is not just its contestation of colonial domination but also in neo-colonialism and the legacies of colonialism. Rather than place colonialism securely in the past or suggesting a continuous line from that past into our present, postcolonialism contends that colonial values and attitudes did not disappear with the acquisition of national independence. The past colonial experiences still cast their shadows over our own present. The experience of the colonial situation outlived the attainment of formal independence.

Postcolonialism begins from the perspective that postcolonial reality is framed by active legacies of colonialism, by the institutional infrastructures inherited from colonial power by elite groups, or appropriated by later generations of elites. In our postmodern world, where the structure and culture of the colonial society are evident, there are tendencies to omit colonialism, racism, and ideologies of repression in our daily engagements. Through postcolonial inquiry, we are not only able to challenge such tendencies, but also see colonialism and decolonisation as not separate phases in history but as cultural processes in dialectical relationship with each other.

Postcolonial criticism ultimate’s goal is to offer an alternative intellectual inquiry and interpretation on the past and present encounters with both the colonial and present global encounters of unequals. As an academic venture, postcolonial theory interrogates texts, structures and attitudes for colonial intentions and tendencies. In a clearer way, it investigates and exposes the link between knowledge and power in textual, cultural, socio-political and economic productions where the dialectical relationship between language and power is fundamental and far-reaching. Therefore, re-engagement with our past is paramount if we hope to dismantle neo-colonial structures such ICC and UN.

Peter Kenneth in Atlanta

2011-09-01T21:19:00.000-04:00

I have found Peter Kenneth's proposal on healthcare helpful. I have not heard so far one who directly address issues that are dear to my heart as this man. Time will tell if his is mere political rhetoric or he is one serious presidential contender. So far, I am impressed.

In deed a great human gesture and a spiritual one too!

2011-08-16T02:14:00.000-04:00

Thank you former South African President Thabo Mbeki

2011-08-10T21:50:00.001-04:00

‎"I am an African" come may what. Thank you former South African President Thabo Mbeki for your commitment to achieve what is right for us as Africans. Africa's Rebirth is a must not a choice.

Thank you former South African President Thabo Mbeki

2011-08-10T21:49:00.000-04:00

‎"I am an African" come may what. Thank you former South African President Thabo Mbeki for your commitment to achieve what is right for us as Africans. African Rebirth is a must not a choice.

Southern Sudan - A True Miracle

2011-07-10T22:55:00.002-04:00

Introducing Ordinary African Readers' Hermeneutics

2011-06-15T10:13:00.003-04:00

My book Introducing Ordinary African Readers' Hermeneutics which has just been published by Peter Lang International Academic publishers introduces the concept “ordinary African readers' hermeneutics” in a study of the reception of the Bible in postcolonial Africa. It looks beyond the scholarly and official church-based material to the way in which the Bible, and discourses on or from the Bible, are utilized within a wide range of diverse contexts.

I show that “ordinary readers” can and did engage in meaningful and liberating hermeneutics. I have used the term “ordinary readers” to refer specifically first to the literate African readers who remain poor and marginalized. In this category I include peasants and the unskilled laborers living both in the rural and urban areas of the African societies. Secondly, the term includes the illiterate and semi-literate African Bible readers. Even though these categories of ordinary readers form the main bulk of the African Christian churches, they are usually assumed “passive” and their readings and interpretations not taken seriously. In the book, I show that these readers are indeed capable hermeneuts (interpreters) whom biblical scholars (and mainly African scholars) must take seriously.

Using the Agĩkũyũ's encounter with the Bible as an example, I demonstrate that what colonial discourses commonly circulated about Africans were not always the “truth”, but mere “representations” that were hardly able to fix African identities, as they were often characterized by certain ambivalences, anxieties and contradictions. The hybridized Biblical texts, readings and interpretations generated through retrieval and incorporation of the defunct pre-colonial past created interstices that became sites for assimilation, questioning and resistance.

The book explores how Africans employed “allusion” as a valid method of interpretation, showing how the critical principle of interpretation lies not in the Bible itself, but in the community of readers willing to cultivate dialogical imagination in order to articulate their vision. I propose an African hermeneutical theory, which involves the fusion of both the “scholarly” and the “ordinary” readers in the task of biblical interpretation within a specific socio-cultural context.

To order this book, click on the link below http://www.peterlang.com/index.cfm?event=cmp.ccc.seitenstruktur.detailseiten&seitentyp=produkt&pk=58920&cid=448&concordeid=430289

INTRODUCING ORDINARY AFRICAN READERS' HERMENEUTICS

2011-06-03T11:53:00.000-04:00

Dear Friends,
I am very pleased to inform you that my first book titled INTRODUCING ORDINARY AFRICAN READERS' HERMENEUTICS has been published by Peter Lang Ltd, International Academic Publishers. The book is being released for sale immediately. See the link below for a synopsis of the book. Thank you for your support. http://www.peterlang.com/download/datasheet/58920/datasheet_430289.pdf

My First Book

2011-01-10T11:44:00.003-05:00

I wish to alert the followers of this blog about my upcoming book titled “Introducing Ordinary African Readers’ Hermeneutics: A Case Study of the Agĩkũyũ Encounter with the Bible.” This book is set within a postcolonial framework and introduces the concept “ordinary African reader's hermeneutics”. It looks beyond the scholarly and official church based material to the way in which the bible, and discourses on or from the bible are utilized within a wide range of diverse contexts. In the book, I show that ‘ordinary readers’ can and did engage in meaningful and liberating hermeneutics. Using the Agĩkũyũ’s encounter with Bible, I demonstrate that what colonial discourses commonly circulated about Africans were not always 'truth', but mere 'representations' that were hardly able to fix African identities as they were often characterized by certain ambivalences, anxieties and contradictions. The hybridized biblical texts, readings and interpretations generated through retrieval and incorporation of the defunct pre-colonial past created interstices that became sites for assimilation, questioning and resistance. The book explores how Africans employed 'allusion' as a valid method of interpretation showing how the critical principle of interpretation lies not in the Bible itself, but in the community of readers willing to cultivate dialogical imagination in order to articulate their vision. In the end, I propose an African hermeneutical theory, which involves the fusion of both the ‘scholarly’ and the ‘ordinary’ readers in the task of biblical interpretation within specific sociocultural context.

Synopsis:

The book explores the extent to which “ordinary readers” participated in the development of biblical interpretation in Africa. The book takes into the account the paradigm shift in African biblical studies where the image of a “decontextualized and non-ideological” scientific Bible reader is slowly being replaced with one of a “contextualized and ideological” reader. In the study, I use the Agĩkũyũ of Kenya as a case study to recover and reconstruct the historical encounters of the Africans with the Bible; and to show that the semi-illiterate and illiterate do engage the Bible as capable hermeneuts.

The study uses postcolonial criticism as a theoretical and methodological tool to help analyze and interpret archival data and colonial texts. This methodology has been most helpful in revealing that ordinary African readers actively and creatively engaged biblical texts in the moment of colonial transformation using several reading strategies and reading resources. Despite the colonial hegemonic positioning, these Africans hybridized readings from the Bible through retrieval and incorporation of the defunct pre-colonial past; creating interstices that became sites for assimilation, questioning and resistance. My study shows that even though the aims, nature and reliability of biblical interpretation in Africa may never have been independent from the consciousness and will of the colonial discourse that assumed its own dominance and superiority, its development was not monolithic. I have shown that the process of introducing the Bible and its teachings in colonial Africa could not allow exact replication of intended meanings.

I offer three main arguments which operated at various levels of colonial contacts. The first is that the crossing-over and the borrowing back and forth in colonial contexts became possible through the “concept of ‘fixity’” in the construction of otherness. Stereotypes helped reinforce this concept as its major discursive strategy and produced a process of ambivalence in the colonial representation of the colonized subjects. Secondly, the colonizers’ experience and that of the Africans which they represented testified to the diversity and differences present in the colonial world. Since the African context was a world with its own agendas, priorities, and history, it was not possible to develop unitary and pure forms of hermeneutics. Therefore, hermeneutics that evolved out of the colonial situation could not be anything but hybrid, mixed and impure. Since hybridity as understood in postcolonialism is never total or complete, it remains perpetually in motion, pursuing errant and unpredictable course, open to change and inscription. Thirdly, due to the ambivalences, anxieties and contradictions as well as the hybrid nature of colonial discourses, the colonial situation offered an “in-between” space where other possibilities in interpretation became feasible. By investigating the interstices of colonial culture and experience, it reveals to us that it is in this “liminal space” that came the “enigmatic questioning” which disturbed any unified notion of history and every unitary concept of the colonizer’s values. What emerged from this scenario was a newness which not only contested but also innovatively interrupted the acts of representation and interpretation.

In the end I have proposed an African hermeneutic theory that accepts both scholarly readers and the ordinary readers with respect to biblical interpretation as constitutive of a community of readers positioned in a particular sociocultural milieu. It is a theory that invites the socially engaged scholars to commit to: reading the Bible from the experienced reality of societal margins; reading communally with each other; and to read critically. The metaphor Sokoni (at the marketplace) is proposed as the starting point in which both the “ordinary” readers and scholarly readers can engage the Bible through the language of the African theatre and storytelling.

The rationale for the book:

While much research and writing have been done on the history of Christian mission and the development of Christianity and theology in Africa, the research literature in biblical studies and hermeneutics pays little attention to the processes and consequences of colonization for biblical interpretation and uses of scripture in Africa. In postcolonial Africa, where the Bible has widely been accepted as the supreme rule of faith, ethics and morality, few indigenous biblical scholars have engaged in critical biblical scholarship which interrogates the relationship between the Bible and colonialism regarding the issues of language, class, gender, ideology and human subjectivity. Among the many trained theologians, few are biblical scholars. As Gerald West has observed of African theologians, it is also true of the biblical academies in Africa that only a handful of African biblical scholars consciously reflect on methodology and theory.

In addition, the question of biblical hermeneutics is yet to be settled, particularly in the formerly colonized territories. The postcolonial context, just as the colonial context, remains a site where the Bible has the potential of becoming both a solution and a problem, both an oppressor and liberator. The Bible is now widely accepted as an African book and a beloved text, however, its potency as a destructive force cannot be ignored. The Bible as literature remains a powerful tool in which a given ideology can be passed on and be received as the norm in daily practices. Moreover, the postcolonial context in which the Bible operates is still contestable and ambiguous. The postcolonial situation in Africa demands a new critical tradition in biblical studies and hermeneutics that follow colonial resistant literature to affirm the right of people once again to seize the initiative of history. I am of the opinion that potentiality of such a critical edge in African biblical scholarship that is able to harness the true creative power of the African people has not been fully explored and tested.

For example, while the Christian activity of the Bible Translation has made great strides in offering the Africans the Bible in the languages of their ancestors, hardly have theological schools in Africa seen it worthy to include the translated texts (which most ordinary readers use) in the biblical studies curriculum. What this translates to is the inadequacy of biblical hermeneutics to offer critical tools that students of theology can employ when they encounter the untrained ordinary readers in their daily wrestling with the translated texts. Theological schools, as such, disregard untrained, illiterate or semi-literate readers as important conversation partners in the development of biblical hermeneutics.

In addition, I am of the opinion that to understand this process one must also address the question of the discourses of colonialism. By discourses of colonialism, I mean understanding the representation and categorization of the African identities produced and reproduced by various colonial rules, systems and procedures in order to create and separate the Africans as “Other”. Therefore, to understand colonial relationships one needs to analyze words and images as they were used and applied in the historical transformation of the colonial society. Such an analysis reveals not just the individual or social groups but also a historical consciousness at work. For this reason, the place of language, culture and the individual within the political and economic realities of the colony have to remain at the fore front for a fuller comprehension of the evolution of biblical interpretation in colonial Kenya.

The book is an attempt towards filling in the gap. It builds on the new methodological and theoretical approach in African biblical studies which has been laid out through the able minds of Gerald West, Musa Dube, Itumeleng J. Mosala and Aloo O. Mojola, among others postcolonial biblical critics.

The intended readership of the book includes African biblical scholars and Africanists, African theologians and historians, Students of religion, theology and biblical studies, Researchers in approaches to hermeneutics, Postcolonial theorists and critics.

Please, stay tuned for more about this book.

Children of the dumpsite

2010-10-05T16:39:00.001-04:00

Women of the dumpsite

2010-10-05T16:39:00.000-04:00

Tales from Nairobi's largest dumpsite

2010-10-05T16:38:00.000-04:00

Paul Mwai: Wonderful worship

2010-09-25T20:28:00.000-04:00

VABATI VAJEHOVA-NDOMUDANA(+447824613237)

2010-09-08T21:48:00.000-04:00

My Land is Kenya

2010-08-27T15:49:00.000-04:00

Sights and sounds of change

2010-08-27T15:48:00.000-04:00

Brave new world

2010-08-27T15:47:00.000-04:00

Renewed hope

2010-08-27T15:46:00.000-04:00

True cultural exchange, lovely.

2010-06-18T23:46:00.000-04:00

Is the Kenyan Church Leadership Sincere on the Draft Constitution?

2010-06-12T17:19:00.002-04:00

Isn’t it amazing that most of us “men of the cloth” almost always pretend to speak on behave of the “voiceless”! As Gayatri Spivak asks, “Can the Subaltern Speak?” During the current constitution debate in Kenya, the “voiceless” ought to speak-out for themselves!

The Church in Kenya has trivialized constitution making by zeroing only on two "minor" issues without considering the whole document. While the issue of religion in most occasions raises people’s emotions that we at times are unable to think rationally, it is important for all people of good will to recognize that the GREATER GOOD must prevail for the sake of our REPUBLIC and not just for some religious disagreements.

In my opinion, the problem with the current stand taken by the Kenyan church leaders on the draft constitution is a psychological one. Psychologists refer to it as compensation or simply passing the buck. In this case we fail to acknowledge our own failures and simply blame it on the pro-abortionists and Muslims. Has anyone noticed the kind of lifestyle lived by the ministers of the Gospel? One needs to visit his local pastor's home and then visit a couple of the ministers' parishioners and you will be surprised by the economic disparities thereof. Ministry is no longer a calling or a passion but a lifestyle. No wonder our Christian leaders are quick to blame the Kadhi courts and Islamic expansionism for the rapid rise in Islam mainly in our poor communities such as Kibera.

I also think it is insincere for the Church to dismiss the inclusion of Kadhi courts in the draft constitution, without proper understanding of how Sharia Law (which most Christians are quick to quote) is practiced in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Northern Nigeria? How does it compare to the Kenyan situation? I must also add that Kenya is not a Christian state and neither is it Islamic even though from colonial days Christianity has always been the favoured child. Christians are afraid of losing this privilege and that is why I still maintain that the current church's position on the draft constitution is more political than religious.

Therefore, when I read such ultimatums as the ones given by church leaders, I see political mischief in the guise of Christian activism. The Christian leaders’ perspective is based on limited knowledge, misinformation, ignorance of constitutional making and prejudice. Their position is backed by half-truths and misrepresentations. It compares to fear-mongering evident in America today - which is basically championed by the American Religious Right. Christian fundamentalism is as dangerous as Islamic fundamentalism! The current Christian leadership in Kenya is behaving as though it was the left wing of the Jihadists in Somali or Nigeria only this time clothed in cassocks and holding Bibles (instead of wearing turbans and holding guns).

Although Kenyans’ amnesia is astounding, one does not need to seek far and wide to read this political mischief. Before 2007 general election and the violent events that followed, most of the Christian leaders now marshaling support against abortion and Kadhi court were busy rallying their troops behind candidate “A” (mainly the one from their tribe) while opposing the “enemy” of their candidate. But did the Christian leaders answer to their higher calling? The IDPs are still languishing in hovels and abject poverty. The Church seems to have lost its moral voice. Unimagined scale of violence continues to bother every right thinking Kenyan; people are being murdered at will; Mũngĩkĩ killers who are now hailed as Christian converts remain free – and what have the Christian leadership done about these things? Your guess is as good as mine.

What is my point? It is simply this, before we can accuse others of the speck in their eyes, we must first take care of the log that continues to hinder our beatific vision of the Kingdom of God. We need to wear sackcloth instead of mourning the expansion of Islam. We need to return to the God of old, who still demands that we walk upright, love justice and walk humbly before Yahweh. God cannot be mock! Kenya’s destiny is in God’s hands and no Kadhi court or Islamic scholar or Muhammad’s sword can sway the hand of Yahweh. Let us do our part and let God be God! God will take care of God’s own. God is the Author and the Finisher of our Faith! We should not be casting stones at Islamic fundamentalism while we ourselves live in glass houses. The God I worship has no time for such “righteous” grandstanding. God is interested in a humble and a contrite spirit - a spirit that bears the Spirit of the Living Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the one whom the Father raised by the Power of His Mighty Hand.

Kĩriakũ wa Kĩnyua

The Making of a Constitution

2010-06-12T16:43:00.000-04:00

Epiphany: Fulfilment, Conflict and Contrasting Images.

2010-01-02T23:21:00.002-05:00

Matthew 2:1-12 and Isaiah 60: 1-6

Now that the excitement of the highly commercialized Christmas is over, let us consider one of the least recognized days of the Christian calendar - i.e. January 6 in which we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord.

The meaning and the purpose of Epiphany have been contested in many circles. Nonetheless, the generally accepted definition is that - Epiphany is a feast that celebrates the “shining forth” or revelation of God to humanity in human form. Just like Christmas, it offers a story of God’s new action in the world through the conception of Jesus Christ which is also the manifestation of God’s saving presence. The Epiphany, in a world dominated by sin and evil, reminds us of God’s purpose to restore creation to the original intentions of the creator.

As such, the Epiphany is a story of fulfilment. It brings forth good news which ushers in that which was promised through the prophets. The story as recorded in Matthew 2 locates the birth of Christ in Bethlehem as a fulfilment of a prophecy recorded in Micah 5:2. Matthew adds to the prophecy 2 Samuel 5:2 giving Bethlehem a geographic precision, prominence and relevance. Jews expected the Messiah to be born in Bethlehem. The narrative of Jesus’ birth is thus located at the very center of God’s purpose which involves the formation of a people for whom God intends blessing and life.

The Epiphany also reveals that God’s purpose is constant and faithful. Those who recognize this and commit themselves to follow Christ, live in a blessed world because God is at work in it and God will bring to completion all that God has intended.

However, the Epiphany is also a constant reminder of the onslaught against God’s action. This onslaught started with Herod, a vassal king, together with the Jerusalem elite who made desperate attempts to thwart God’s work. Herod is believed to have been an Idumean (a non-Jew) appointed king of Judea by the Roman senate in 40 B.C. and was in full control by 37 B.C. Although he is positively remembered for the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple, a project he initiated in 19 B.C., Herod is also remembered for his ruthlessness and his murderous actions. He murdered his own wife and his three sons. He also killed his mother-in-law, his brother-in-law, an uncle and the babies of Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16.)

Herod’s actions ought to remind us that the birth of Christianity was a painful one. Mourning and wailing became a hallmark of the early Church as opposed to the ultra-modern image of a wealthy, kingly Church. Lamentation expresses pain, sorrow, and outrage. Having said this, however, the Epiphany highlights the fact that though Herod’s actions may have been brutal and painful, Herod did not have the final word. Epiphany brings with it a message of hope - God will liberate his own.

The final thing that Epiphany reminds us of is the contrasting understandings of Christ. As a result different, groups throughout Christian history appropriate different images of the Christ. Some of the contrasting images that Epiphany brings to the fore include:

In the emerging narrative, it is the Magi (gentiles) not the chief priests (aristocratic temple priests) or scribes (writing bureaucrats) who received the initial revelation of the “shining forth” even though the latter had the prophetic and historical facts of where the Messiah was to be born. Many Christians have interpreted the story of the Magi in the context of power and glory (Isaiah 60:1- 6.) They connect Bethlehem with Davidic kingly lineage – Hollywood style – Christendom. This interpretation's emphasis is on the Eschaton (one who comes as the King of kings, Lord of lords, Supreme Judge to judge and rule the world with all splendour and glory.) They see the three wise men as referring to three kings who brought wealth and worshipped the King of kings.

Yet in the Epiphany story there is another image: that of a child; of parents; of simplicity; of the unsung heroines – Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Tamar. Basically, Christ is born into a family not a palace. The humble, the suffering and the poor, the oppressed and the marginalized easily identify with this image. The Epiphany offers them hope and they see themselves as the people of God (Matthew 1:21; 4:23; 9:35.)

What message does the story of the Epiphany of our Lord brings to you?