Dear community,
Happy New Year, but moreover, Happy 9th Day of Christmas!
Yes indeed, we mark 12 days of Christmas here, all the way from the 25th until the Feast of Epiphany (our namesake) when we remember the arrival of the magi from the East, who followed the star to find and worship the newborn King.
You may–reasonably, I think–be feeling “done” with Christmas. I personally have spent the last week with my head deep in book, or napping, or celebrating, or generally feeling full of cookies and confused about what day it is. Today the kids are back to school, we’re back to work, and normal winter days stretch ahead of us. And yet: We have four more days of Christmas. What are we supposed to do with those?
Do you ever look at the stained glass windows and the tapestries above the high altar, at the very front of the sanctuary? Really, really look? The story of Christmas–from the prophets foretelling the birth of a new kind of king, a messiah, a savior–all the way through baby Jesus’s presentation in the temple; these moments are in front of us every time we worship. We don’t put those up for Advent and Christmas. This story of God’s incarnation is literally before us all year.
I pointed these images out to our pageant participants, and we wondered together. I wonder why we chose this story for our window? I wonder, which piece of the story is the most important? I wonder what Mary "pondered in her heart," and I wonder what will you ponder in your heart, as you notice these images before you all year long?
Merry Christmas,
Bryn
