Rick Lee JamesHealthcare Chaplain, Bon Secours Mercy Health · Husband, Dad, Hospital Chaplain, Recording Artist, Podcast Host, Loyola University IPS Graduate, Alpha Sigma Nu Member, and Recording Academy (GRAMMY®) member - Contributing musician on a Grammy-nomin

Voices in My Head Podcast – Episode 608: Epiphany 2026

7 Jan 2026 · 3 min

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3:01

In this brief devotional recorded on January 6, 2026, host Rick Lee James reflects on the Christian Feast of Epiphany, explaining that the term means “revelation” and that the event commemorates the first recognition of Jesus as the Messiah. He draws a parallel between the biblical scene where the Magi find the infant Jesus in a humble home and the everyday hospital environment, arguing that God’s glory is continually revealed in ordinary, unexpected places—hallways, patient rooms, and moments of compassionate care. Rick highlights examples of staff—nurses holding a patient’s hand, environmental service workers sitting with grieving families—as modern‑day epiphanies. He urges listeners, regardless of personal belief, to actively look for and recognize these manifestations of divine mercy, to see the glory of God in themselves and others, and to let that awareness shape their daily work. The devotional ends with a hopeful blessing and an invitation to carry this perspective forward.

Chapters

Welcome back to Voices in My Head. As always, I'm your host, Rick Lee James, and I'm so glad that you're here with me today for another episode. At the time of recording this, it is Tuesday, January 6th, and I am getting ready to share this devotional with the hospital safety call. We share every morning a devotional. Our chaplains do this. So while you'll be receiving this on the day after Epiphany, uh, really the season of Epiphany lasts until Ash Wednesday in most church traditions. So This is the devotional that I wrote to share with them on the Tuesday call for Epiphany. Today is the Feast of Epiphany, the season that begins on January 6th and it runs until Ash Wednesday. Christmas celebrates that Jesus was born. Epiphany celebrates the moment people begin to realize who Jesus is. The word epiphany means revelation. It is about the glory of God being revealed in the most unexpected place imaginable. In a child. Epiphany celebrates God's power and radiance made known in Christ. In Matthew chapter 2, this revelation comes when Jesus is about 2 years old and the wise men find him not in a palace but in a simple home. God's glory is revealed not in Herod's throne room but in a peasant's house. That same revelation happens in our hospitals every day. God shows up in hallways, patient rooms, waiting areas, and long nights. Christ's glory is revealed through presence, through compassion offered, tears shared, and hope held gently. I have seen the glory of God in many of you. In nurses who pause to hold a patient's hand, and in environmental service workers who stop cleaning long enough to sit with a grieving family. You may not believe in God yourself, but I want to say this clearly, clearly: God's glory is revealed here through works of mercy and compassion, and it is revealed in you. An epiphany, however, only happens when we actually see it. You've heard the phrase, "I've had an epiphany." Here's today's encouragement: look for the glory of God. In ordinary, unexpected places. God is just as likely to show up on a bathroom floor with a sick patient as in a chapel or a cathedral. I hope that you have an epiphany today. God is revealing Godself in you and to you. I choose to see that in you, and I hope you will look a little deeper and see it in yourself as well. God bless you, and thank you so much for listening to Voices in My Head this week in this very short, but I hope meaningful episode. Thanks so much, and I'll see you next time.