In a week that will see the taking down of the tree, the putting away the ornaments, there is sometimes the sense that we pack away our hope and our wonder, and the vulnerability that we allow ourselves at Christmas.  The tangible notes of the Christ Child’s presence, pointsettias in the sanctuary, the glorious music of Christmas, are now behind us, and everywhere we see the trees of Christmas lying on the curbside.  

  Yet in this season of Epiphany, we are reminded of the many ways Christ’s presence continues to break into our world, offering hope and joy and love where they may not be expected.  In the coming year, may we seek to keep our hearts open, to be people not of cynicism but open to wonder and hopefulness and joy.  For with Christ, all things are possible, and God beckons us to a future as yet unseen.

  I want to share with you a prayer for the beginning of the year, for Epiphany, by Walter Brueggemann, the professor of Old Testament at Columbia Seminary in Atlanta.*    

There is a time to be born, and it is now.

  …We turn to you, God of our life,
God of all our years,
God of our beginning.
Our times are in thy hand.

  Hear us as we pray:

  For those of us too much into obedience,
            birth us to the freedom of the gospel.
For those of us too much into self-indulgence,
       birth us to discipleship in your ministry.
For those too much into cynicism,
            birth us to the innocence of the Christ child.
For those of us too much into cowardice,
            birth us to the courage to stand before
                        principalities and powers.  
For those of us too much into guilt,
            birth us into forgiveness worked in your generosity.
For those of us too much into despair,
            birth us into the promises you make to your people.
For those of us too much into control,
            birth us into the vulnerability of the cross.
For those of  us too much into victimization,
            birth us into the power of Easter.
For those of us too much into fatigue,
            birth us into the energy of Pentecost.
We dare pray that you will do for us and among us and through us
            what is needful for newness.
Give us the power to be receptive,
                        to take the newness you give,
                        to move from womb warmth to real life.
We make this prayer not only for ourselves, but
            for our church at the edge of life
            for our city waiting for newness,
            for your whole creation, with which we yearn
                        in eager longing.
There is a time to be born, and it is now.
            We sense the pangs and groans of your newness,
            Come here now in the name of Jesus.  Amen. 

  May we embrace with hope the newness God has for each of us and all of us in the year ahead,

Audrey Schindler

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NOTE

*(Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003) http://www.salemfirstpres.org/msgs/pp080113pf.htm

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