Happy Sunday and a blessed season of Epiphany to you all. Worship was so awesome today. I will share more in my devotion writing in a little while.

At around 4:15 this afternoon Travis called me and asked if I was sitting down. Now this is a really scary question to the mother of a 17 year old young man!! My first question was “Did you wreck your car?” Travis reply was, “It is not that bad mom.” What it was, Travis bought a new knife the other day; the kind of knife that requires a sheath. He stuck it in his back pocket and forgot about it. When he went to sit on the trunk of his car the knife was still in his pocket and it cut a four inch long, inch deep gash in the back of his thigh. He was with friends and one of the boy’s dad’s took Travis to the ER and we met him there. He has four double stitches and seems to be doing fine. He is going to be sore in the morning, but he will survive. He will just not be able to do some of his weight lifting for a while. His clothes were so gross I just bagged them up and threw them away at the hospital. Bruce brought him clean clothes and a jacket. Life is always interesting around our house. Never a dull moment!

Matthew 2:1-12 is the story of the journey of the Wise Men to see the Christ Child. In the Lutheran Church we study and celebrate the season of Epiphany. Epiphany means the revealing of God. It is the season of light. God is revealed in Jesus. Things become revealed or clearer to us in the light.

It is early in January and many of us make resolutions at the beginning of the New Year. We resolve to eat less, exercise more, quit smoking, and a host of other things that we believe will make our lives better. Today Pastor Joel said, “We need to think less about making resolutions and more about receiving the revelation”, that is, receiving the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. The revelation of Jesus is love: love for the entire world and how we are to show others the love of God. We need to seek God’s revelation of Jesus in our lives and in the world. Jesus came for the entire world, but the only way others are going to see the light of Christ is if the light of Christ shines in us!

The light of Christ is the strongest light there is. It is the light that pierces the darkest darkness. Pastor called for us to search beyond ourselves and see the pain and suffering in the world and see where God’s presence can be revealed to those who so desperately need light in their own darkness. As I sat in the ER tonight I watched the different people there for all kinds of reasons. One lady sat near us and was visibly upset and telling someone she loved very much how the one in the ER was not going to die tonight and had a 50/50 chance. She was in a place of darkness. I found myself praying for her and the one who was ill or injured. What I did not do was go over to her and see if I could help. I did not shine the light of Christ when the opportunity presented itself. Discipleship denied for Gaylene tonight!

My New Year’s resolution is to shine the light of God onto those who seem to be in a place of darkness. I am going to try to put into practice what Pastor Joel said today about making fewer resolutions and about receiving the revelation and then shining the light of Christ on those I meet. Sounds like a new journey to me. Join me in the journey friends and shine your light, the light of Christ to those in darkness.

Let us take joy in the journey and be led by the star. Love you, fellow seekers, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.