Not in a box
Yesterday was Epiphany.
Because the Church still knows that Christmas Day is the start of Christmas (not the end), every nook and cranny of the Church was still joyfully stuffed with all of her Christmas best.
Looking at the nativity scene, the wisemen had finally made it to see the Holy Family. The perfect visual for last Sunday’s Gospel. And the last thing – at least for Christmas.
Later that afternoon, it would all be carefully packed up for another year. By Monday, there would be no trace of the glorious excess. And Christmas would finally yield Epiphany.
Not because Christmas is done. But because we’ve packed up Christmas – to take home with us.
That’s the point of Epiphany. Not to put Christmas away, but to take Christmas away – with us.
To take all of the Christmas stuff – not just the decorations, but all that God has given to us – with us.
So that on Monday, the glorious excess is not in a box. It’s in us, in our hearts.
So that we can begin the work of Christmas,
“When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among others,
To make music in the heart.”
– Howard Thurman
Today’s Readings
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I tried sending you a pigeon with a message for our encounter on mount Olympus but pigeon reception over here is really bad, I'm only getting seagulls and sparrows ffs. Can't we just whatsapp each other like the mortals do?
No because we are not like them.
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I am with you even until the end of the age...
teaching them to observe all things, whatever I commanded you. And behold, I am with you all the days, until the completion of the age.
— Matthew 28:20 | Berean Literal Bible (BLB)
The Berean Literal Bible © 2016 by Bible Hub and Berean Bible. All rights Reserved.
Cross References: Jeremiah 26:2; Matthew 13:39-40; Matthew 18:20; Acts 18:10
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Get the message
There’s always…something.
No matter what’s going on in our lives, there is always something to make us worry. Something for us to be anxious about.
It’s going to happen. We’re going to worry, we’re going to be anxious. Sometimes we’re even going to be afraid.
While it feels like that’s sort of an order of escalation (we start with worry then go to anxiety and finally to fear), it’s actually the other way around.
Fear is a God-given emotion. It’s a warning, alerting us to danger – real or perceived. Anxiety is what you and I feel when we’re responding to the emotion of fear. And worry? Worry is the thought loop that returns again and again, increasing our anxiety and making whatever we’re afraid of more powerful than it should be.
By itself, there’s nothing wrong with fear. Fear is like pain. It’s there to tell you something’s wrong.
Like when you break your leg. The pain is there to tell you something’s wrong with your leg. To tell you to get help. Our response to the pain of a broken leg? We get help.
We use the pain for its purpose – as a messenger, telling us to get help. Other than that, we don’t focus on the pain, or how it makes us feel.
Not that it doesn’t hurt. But we’re focused on the part that matters, the message of the pain – get help for the broken leg.
Whether it’s pain or fear, the problem comes when you and I miss the message. And get lost in our thoughts and emotions, worrying about how it’s making us feel – instead of listening to what it’s trying to tell us.
This is the point Jesus is making in today’s Gospel, where He’s in a boat with the disciples. Jesus is asleep when a storm comes up. The disciples’ first response? Fear.
It’s a violent storm. The boat is starting to be swamped by the waves. Their fear makes perfect sense.
Where things go wrong, what Jesus chides them for, is what they do with that fear.
They let their fear work on them. They get lost in our thoughts and emotions. Until their anxiety rises, their worry takes over and they are terrified.
Only then – when they are terrified, when they are truly desperate – do they think to get help. At long last turning to the One who has been right there with them the whole time.
Jesus’ response as He calms the storm? “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?”
Whether He calms the storm or He holds us close while it rages, in 2,000 years, Jesus’ response to you and me and to our fears hasn’t changed.
No matter what you’re afraid of, Jesus is telling you the same thing He told the disciples.
“Why are you wasting your time being terrified? The moment you get the message from your fear, come to Me. I’m right here to help you.”
Today’s Readings
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Summary: Essi and Geralt's sleep schedules cross paths in an opportune way and they are both able to take advantage of some unexpected quality time.
Rating: Teen
Warnings: platonic appreciation of Essi's bum, chronic pain, use of a cane.
@continentcakeshop
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