If you have ever seen the movie “Hook,” the now classic recasting of the Peter Pan fable starring Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams, you likely remember this scene. Captain Hook is seated in his cabin, his hand wearily draped over his eyes as he massages his temples. Meanwhile his inept first mate, Smee, also in the captain’s cabin, is gathering some refreshments.
Suddenly Smee looks up and says, “I’ve just had an apostrophe!” Without looking up or even removing his hand from his face, Captain Hook replies, “I think you mean an epiphany.”
It’s a great line, well delivered. I remember laughing out loud when I first heard it. Then, something about these words caught my attention and I had my own small apostrophe, or was it an epiphany?
Have you ever thought about what these words mean? The word ‘epiphany’ is used in many ways. But usually describes a moment of sudden realization or insight. Maya Angelou defines epiphany as, “the occurrence when the mind, the body, the heart, and the soul, focus together and see and old thing in a new way.”
The word ‘apostrophe’ primarily refers to a mark used in spelling and grammar. One common us of apostrophes is in contractions. It indicates the omission of certain letters. For example, ‘can’t’ instead of can not. It occurred to me that this omission can also be described as a ‘letting go’ of some letters. Beyond this, the Greek root of the word is “apostrophein” which means “to turn away.”
This is where I had my “aha moment!” In fact, unless there is an apostrophe, a letting go or turning away, there is no space available for a receiving of something new!
People of St James, as we enter the season of Epiphany, are we ready to receive the baby Jesus revealed to us in Bethlehem? Is their time in our schedules, an openness in our hearts and minds, a space in our habits and traditions, for this Jesus to enter in? Are we prepared to receive new insights, to grow deeper into our understanding of where this Jesus is leading us for the sake of the world?
Here, at the beginning of this new year, may our minds, bodies, hearts, and souls, be open to receive what God longs to reveal to us along the way. Even now God is preparing us. Even now God is preparing someone who will join this community of faith and help lead it into the future. Let go, turn into the future, and receive what God has already prepared! Thanks be to God!
Pastor Lamont