Every New Year’s Eve we prepare for the year that is to come with bright lights, big bands, bubby champagne, loud noise makers, and grand parties. While we may not stay up until midnight on many nights of the year, we try to stay awake past midnight on December 31 in order to see the dawn of the New Year. Even if we are in our pajamas at home, we typically tune our televisions to the evening’s events in Times Square, allowing the bright lights and the flicker of the big ball to illuminate our living rooms. The New Year is almost always ushered in with lights. Something new has come!
The season of Epiphany begins when the twelve days of Christmas are over and it ends on Ash Wednesday with the beginning of Lent. Jesus was twelve days old when wise men followed a star, looking for the ruler who would shepherd the people of Israel. We are told that the wise men find delight beneath this star, and Epiphany is the season of our basking in this same light – the light of the Christ child. It is a time to go and tell what happened in Bethlehem. And Epiphany begins with the promise of a light – a light that comes when the glory of the Lord has risen upon us. In their search, the wise men travel to Jerusalem and create a stir with a simple question, “Where is the child who has been born King of the Jews?” The very question foretells great change. Herod is no longer the King of the Jews. A new king has arrived – a child who will change the world. The wise men from the East know that the child for whom they are searching will lead the people of Israel in a way that no one else has ever led them before. The Jews are accustomed to being ruled by Herod, but they long for not just another ruler, but for a shepherd. They are hungry for a different kind of government. They are eager for the change this child will bring.
At the beginning of the New Year, we also often yearn for things to be different. We yearn for families to get along, for finances to improve, bodies to become healthier, a more peaceful life and a peaceful world, more time with friends, less stress, a new job, and so on. Yet the things we resolve to do differently on January 1 are rarely part of our life on March 1. We set out every year with high hopes in doing things differently this year. So, what if we were to stop making impossible resolutions for ourselves; stop setting ourselves up for the same failure we experienced last year?
When the wise men finally encounter Christ they are overwhelmed with joy, offering costly gifts to the baby – gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh – the best of the best. What if we resolve to remember the significance of Christ’s birth by consistently asking ourselves what we can offer to Christ this New Year? We may discover that we really have not given our lives to Christ in the first place – that what Christ is really yearning for is for us to come – to come home to him and say, “I want you to rule my life, guide my life, and shephard my life.”
Keep your resolutions simple this year. Don’t walk alone; ask Christ for his help and see if they finally become possible.
The season of Epiphany begins when the twelve days of Christmas are over and it ends on Ash Wednesday with the beginning of Lent. Jesus was twelve days old when wise men followed a star, looking for the ruler who would shepherd the people of Israel. We are told that the wise men find delight beneath this star, and Epiphany is the season of our basking in this same light – the light of the Christ child. It is a time to go and tell what happened in Bethlehem. And Epiphany begins with the promise of a light – a light that comes when the glory of the Lord has risen upon us. In their search, the wise men travel to Jerusalem and create a stir with a simple question, “Where is the child who has been born King of the Jews?” The very question foretells great change. Herod is no longer the King of the Jews. A new king has arrived – a child who will change the world. The wise men from the East know that the child for whom they are searching will lead the people of Israel in a way that no one else has ever led them before. The Jews are accustomed to being ruled by Herod, but they long for not just another ruler, but for a shepherd. They are hungry for a different kind of government. They are eager for the change this child will bring.
At the beginning of the New Year, we also often yearn for things to be different. We yearn for families to get along, for finances to improve, bodies to become healthier, a more peaceful life and a peaceful world, more time with friends, less stress, a new job, and so on. Yet the things we resolve to do differently on January 1 are rarely part of our life on March 1. We set out every year with high hopes in doing things differently this year. So, what if we were to stop making impossible resolutions for ourselves; stop setting ourselves up for the same failure we experienced last year?
When the wise men finally encounter Christ they are overwhelmed with joy, offering costly gifts to the baby – gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh – the best of the best. What if we resolve to remember the significance of Christ’s birth by consistently asking ourselves what we can offer to Christ this New Year? We may discover that we really have not given our lives to Christ in the first place – that what Christ is really yearning for is for us to come – to come home to him and say, “I want you to rule my life, guide my life, and shephard my life.”
Keep your resolutions simple this year. Don’t walk alone; ask Christ for his help and see if they finally become possible.
Begin anew,
Bishop Ian
