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Dear Covenant Friends,
The Christmas tree comes down tonight, and the annual journey to the Christmas tree farm feels like a distant memory. From Advent through Christmastide, this fir bore silent witness to large family gatherings and quiet fireside evenings. Her branches bent with too many ornaments and her skirt made a soft bed for the old tabby cat. Now she goes outside to the back garden until spring, and will carry the more natural adornments of snow, resting birds, and hungry squirrels. Farewell twinkling lights, hello to starlight and moonbeam.
Today is Epiphany and I have no big revelations. Just the small wonders of a visiting Pileated Woodpecker, a grown child who still hugs me, a spouse who cooks dinner. He installs toilets too, which is why our old one is currently on the lawn, festooned with greenery and waiting for pickup.
As we make the shift into ordinary time, I will miss the company of the tree and its decorations, the carols and the cookies, the sheer light-heartedness that breaks out on a child’s face at church dressed up as an angel. Or is it an angel dressed up as a child? I’ve never known for sure.
Diana Butler Bass writes:
Epiphany beckons us to pay attention and participate in widening the circle of light in the world- to push back against all brittle injustice and brutality. Whether a babe in Bethlehem or a burning bush, epiphanies guide us on a longer journey toward healing, liberation and peace. [1]
Perhaps these words, a seasonal benediction of sorts, from A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L’Engle, capture the fullest sense of Epiphany:
This is my charge to you.
You are too be a light bearer.
You are to choose the light.
Arise. Shine. Be Light.
Epiphany blessings to all of you, even in the most unexpected places.
Peace,
Pastor Jessie
pastor@covenantweb.org
[1] Diana Butler Bass, A Beautiful Year: 52 Meditations on Faith, Wisdom and Perseverance, p. 74-75.
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