Arise... shine... let your light shine

On January 6th, we celebrated the day of Epiphany - the end of the Christmastide season and beginning of Jesus ministry to the world.  The word "Epiphany" means "revealed"... A prophecy from Isaiah highlights what this revelation means to people throughout the generations;

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.  See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.  Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.  (Isaiah 60:1-3)

John's gospel contains a New Testament version of the creation story...

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1-5)

From these passages, we hear the message reinforced, "Jesus is the light of the world."

But Jesus didn't keep this light to himself.  This light was passed to those who believed - who shared the story - who changed the way they lived their lives because of knowing and following him.  It wasn't just the disciples whose lives were forever changed by Jesus.  Knocked from his comfortable ride by a blinding light, the apostle Paul started out as a persecutor of those who followed "The Way" but ended up being one of the Messiah's most faithful teachers and writers, helping to spread Christianity far from the boundaries of the Middle East all over the world.

The power of God's light drew the Magi to Bethlehem, sharing precious gifts with the baby king and his family .... the power of the light opened the hearts and minds and eyes and hands of billions of people so that we might be Christ to the world around us .... the power of God's light -- that's what we offer to the world.

When we receive it, our best acts of faith are lived out in not allowing the light to be hidden or extinguished.  Instead, we work to shine, small and steady, in a world that is filled with darkness, but also with flashes of brilliance, followed by more darkness still.  And when our small, steady lights are joined together, we push the darkness farther and farther away, until the world around us is filled with the light of Christ, and his love and peace prevail.

How do we live this kind of life?  Practice forgiveness, pursue justice, be humble, give people the benefit of the doubt, accept salvation, let God be God... it's a life's work and can only be accomplished by living life day by day.

Peace, Deb

The Twelve Gifts of Christmas...

In my ongoing quest to celebrate Christmas for the whole twelve-day season, I decided to think of twelves gifts that my husband has shared with me that makes my life better, emotionally, spiritually and physically.  Then I posted them on Facebook as a way of counting through the season of Christmastide, day by day.  They are shared in love, with a little irony and lightheartedness thrown in for good measure.

Here they are, all in one place.

12/25: On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, cleaning out the pantry and the refrigerator... and not alphabetizing my spices.

12/26: On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, coming home from work while it was still light outside (i.e. before 4:30pm).

12/27: On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me the willingness to eat leftovers whenever I don't feel like cooking something new.

12/28: On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me a wonderful second family, where I call myself the out-law, but always feel loved by them all, and am regularly called for helpful cooking and computer software tips.

12/29: On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me the chance to live in nine states and one foreign country I would probably not have chosen for myself (those being Illinois, North Dakota, New Jersey, Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington - and Germany).

12/30: On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me support of my calling and career.  (His mom always told him he'd meet a nice girl at church... she just didn't say she'd be the minister.)

12/31: On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me a vehicle with four wheel drive... and the weather to go along with it. 

1/1: On the eighth day of Christmas,  my true love gave to me computer smarts, teaching me to think through most problems on my own.  A lot can be solved by setting a restore point, powering down, unplugging, sitting for 20 minutes, and starting again from scratch.  Some of those same strategies can also be used in life.

1/2: On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me sticking a load of laundry in the washer before I got up, so that I could get it dried and folded before I left the house for other activities.

1/3: On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me encouragement to get healthier.  This includes his willingness to eat more veggies, so I'm not cooking two different meals every night.  This year we welcomed asparagus, Brussels sprouts, radishes, butternut & acorn squash, sugar snap peas and celery to our vegetable options.  A really good quality balsamic vinegar is also a great dinner accessory... So are bacon bits...

1/4: On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me a room in our current house that I don't ALWAYS have to keep up to his standard of orderliness - as long as I close the door. I call it the craft room... he calls it something a little different.  If you're looking for fabric, yarn, thread, scissors, glue sticks, beads, crochet hooks, knitting needles, elastic, hooks and eyes, snaps, straight pins, safety pins, sewing needles, patterns of all kinds, stamping supplies, wreath making supplies, ribbon, cotton batting, iron and ironing board, games or assorted fiction, I'm your gal.

1/5: On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me his love, his trust and his appreciation... priceless!  Do we disagree sometimes?  Well, of course we do.  But we not only accept each other's idiosyncrasies, and put up with each other's crazy schedules, plans, and obligations, but we have actually blossomed through it all.  Isn't that what a good marriage is all about?  God is so good!


I am truly blessed!

Peace, Deb