For the week ending January 2, 2026

We are still in Christmas season, today, and on the first Sunday of the new year, January 4. Epiphany will be celebrated on January 6, when we traditionally celebrate the magi following the star and bringing their gifts to the Christ child. But for now, despite what the stores, the promotions, and the music being broadcasted are focusing on, we are still with the baby and his new parents in Bethlehem. Our scripture readings on Sunday will be Jeremiah 31:7-14 and John 1:10-18. We will begin the new year by celebrating communion together and there will be a congregational meeting to elect two new ruling elders to serve on the session. I look forward to seeing you, for more Christmas, on Sunday!

In January, when your resolutions become forgotten promises, may you be blessed with a voice saying, “I like you just the way you are.”
In February, when your nose chafes and your lips crack, may you be blessed with cooling balms and steaming beverages.
In March, when your bracket inevitably underperforms expectations, may you be blessed with blossoms and the shoots of green leaves.
In April, when mud tracks across your entryway and your garden grows roots, may you be blessed with patience, humility and grace.
In May, when teachers proclaim endings and the sun proclaims beginnings, may you be blessed with the eternal possibility of “between.”
In June, when the water is too cold and the cement is too hot, may you be blessed with joyful shouts and splashes.
In July, when time warps in a way that is impossibly both treeline-blurring and puddle-stagnant, may you be blessed with a fresh breath to fill your lungs.
In August, when sweat trickles rivers across your porous skin, may you be blessed with evaporation.
In September, when your cursor blinks uselessly against your to-do list, may you be blessed with pleasant daydreams.
In October, when you begin to gripe about your neighbor’s Christmas decorations, may you be blessed with an angel who reminds you that the lights are a symbol of hope in the darkness.
In November, when you celebrate saints, may you be blessed by their memory.
In December, when the wax runs from candle wicks in stalactite tears, may you be blessed with heavenly peace.
In the year to come, when life provides moments of unparalleled joy, unprecedented sorrow, or inexplicable happenstance, may you be blessed in remembering that you are a beloved child of God.

It’s one thing to demonstrate what one knows about Jesus. It is quite another to discover who one is in relation to that Jesus every day. That matter requires regular, daily examination over a lifetime of exploration. It can even expand and change over time.