#with us

we came, we prowled, we party-bussed

Yesterday was Epiphany.

Because the Church still knows that Christmas Day is the start of Christmas (not the end), every nook and cranny of the Church was still joyfully stuffed with all of her Christmas best.

Looking at the nativity scene, the wisemen had finally made it to see the Holy Family. The perfect visual for last Sunday’s Gospel. And the last thing – at least for Christmas.

Later that afternoon, it would all be carefully packed up for another year. By Monday, there would be no trace of the glorious excess. And Christmas would finally yield Epiphany.

Not because Christmas is done. But because we’ve packed up Christmas – to take home with us.

That’s the point of Epiphany. Not to put Christmas away, but to take Christmas away – with us.

To take all of the Christmas stuff – not just the decorations, but all that God has given to us – with us.

So that on Monday, the glorious excess is not in a box. It’s in us, in our hearts.

So that we can begin the work of Christmas,

“When the song of the angels is stilled,

When the star in the sky is gone,

When the kings and princes are home,

When the shepherds are back with their flock,

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,

To heal the broken,

To feed the hungry,

To release the prisoner,

To rebuild the nations,

To bring peace among others,

To make music in the heart.”

– Howard Thurman