Epiphany - Travel to the Center of Your Life |
Star Words! |
If you were free - where would you be traveling these days? Where does your imagination take you? Traveling is a challenge in these pandemic years. Normally we would literally move from one place to another. In 2021 we are discouraged from moving abroad.
But we can travel in many other ways. Think of traveling as an “inner” experience! Traveling challenges our perspective and our behavior. Journeys by ourselves and with others change us. Traveling in these days becomes an “inner experience” or a relational experience in my “bubble” - or a one-to-one or small group experience in an online, virtual environment. We also can find ourselves “in the room” with people we love who are literally across the world from us! Here we can help each other imagine the world in new ways. The Wise Travelers changed - in location, but perhaps more importantly in their perceptions of God, of people, and of the world they knew. How have our perceptions shifted through the times of isolation and change we are experiencing? We can learn from them to practice listening and paying attention to the movement of the light, the paths that open up in the darkness, the reality of power, and the voices that speak truth. Through this season (January 3-February 14) we will travel with Jesus as he sets out from the River Jordan after his baptism into the region of Galilee. He will gather traveling companions, encounter people who need his ministry, and he will reveal more of the grace of God to people along the way - including us who tag along! That grace truly is the center of our life as followers and as the church committed to proclaiming Christ in our world today. |
Epiphany at WLLC in 2021
January 3 - Celebration of the Epiphany - the Wise Travelers arrive at Jesus' door! January 10 - Celebrate the Baptism of Jesus and Remember Baptism January 17 - Welcome and Bless New Members January 24 - Reaffirm the WLLC Welcome Statement January 31 February 7 - Prepare for the Annual Meeting February 14 - Transfiguration Sunday (Jesus appears in his glory to some disciples ) |
Psalms of Epiphany
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Blessing Your House for 2021
by The Rev. Jennifer McNally
Consider participating in an ancient tradition known as "Chalking the Door." This practice consists of marking a blessing in chalk in a specific pattern of letters and numbers, to invite God's blessing on a home, church, or other entryway, and on all who enter its doors during the year. All you need is chalk and a doorway. The markings are usually made above the front door or main entrance, in this pattern: 20 + C + M + B + 21
The numbers change each year to reflect the new calendar year. The letters C, M, and B are given two meanings: the initials of the traditional names of the three magi, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, and the initials of the Latin phrase Christus Mansionem Benedicat, which means, “Christ bless this dwelling.” The + signs are for the Cross of Christ. Before, during, or after the chalking of the door, the following prayer might be offered:
O God of Stars and Journeys, we ask your blessing on this threshold. May all whose journeys lead them through these doors be blessed with health, generosity of spirit, a joyful heart, and deep peace. O God of Welcome, may all who enter this doorway rejoice to find Christ living among us, and may we seek and serve, in everyone we meet, that same Jesus who is the incarnate Word, now and forever. Amen.
Seeing the symbols over our door during the year remind us, even as life goes back to a regular routine after Christmas, that our homes and all those who dwell there belong to Christ. They are also reminders of the welcome the magi gave to Jesus. Who might we welcome into our hearts this coming year? With time the chalk will fade. As it does, we let the meaning of the written symbols sink into the depths of our hearts and manifest in our words and actions.
The numbers change each year to reflect the new calendar year. The letters C, M, and B are given two meanings: the initials of the traditional names of the three magi, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, and the initials of the Latin phrase Christus Mansionem Benedicat, which means, “Christ bless this dwelling.” The + signs are for the Cross of Christ. Before, during, or after the chalking of the door, the following prayer might be offered:
O God of Stars and Journeys, we ask your blessing on this threshold. May all whose journeys lead them through these doors be blessed with health, generosity of spirit, a joyful heart, and deep peace. O God of Welcome, may all who enter this doorway rejoice to find Christ living among us, and may we seek and serve, in everyone we meet, that same Jesus who is the incarnate Word, now and forever. Amen.
Seeing the symbols over our door during the year remind us, even as life goes back to a regular routine after Christmas, that our homes and all those who dwell there belong to Christ. They are also reminders of the welcome the magi gave to Jesus. Who might we welcome into our hearts this coming year? With time the chalk will fade. As it does, we let the meaning of the written symbols sink into the depths of our hearts and manifest in our words and actions.