BACK for 12th Night, as William Shakespeare would possibly have said. There was a time in days gone by when today was a party as Christmas drew to a close, and music was the food of love and one would crave an excess. Now excess is more often food and drink rather than music or love – but it's not too late for New Year resolutions.

The twelve days of Christmas come to a close and the wise men arrive from the East following a star. Epiphany is celebrated and the next season of the Church begins. A funny word but quite powerful because we probably have little epiphanies all the time. But this one has a universal dimension; God in Jesus shows himself not only to his own people (the Jewish shepherds outside Bethlehem to start with) but now to strangers from another country. They may have travelled but before they set off they studied, they were looking, they wanted to know more, and they were searching the skies.

I'm sure many of us are looking for something. Where we start will often determine where we end up. It is often mentioned that wise men and women sought Jesus, and that they still do. Well since the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, I don't disagree. Education has at its heart the quest for truth and wisdom. The great schools and universities of Europe have this in their DNA, rather than alchemy.

Jesus said that he was the Way, the Truth and the Life, so we seek him and find the truth along with life, life in all its fullness. We find Jesus in the world, but more often than not he finds us, but why not begin the search afresh this January, not with Wikipedia, nor Google, not even Dover Library, but among the people we meet. The wise men sought and found Jesus, knelt and gave him gifts most rare. What will I give him this year? I'm still working on it.