1st Sunday after Christmas

1st Sunday after Christmas

Sunday Offering: Do You Wonder?

The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Forde

Do you wonder? An angel appears to Joseph in a dream warning him to flee because King Herod is going to kill his baby, Jesus. Herod begins the wholesale slaughter of infants throughout the land, seeking to destroy a newborn king prophesied to take his place. Rachel weeps for her babies. A king Is born? What kind of king? How can this be? Do you wonder? 

Centuries pass after the birth that changed the world, Joseph’s warning to flee, and Rachel lamenting for her children. Civilizations come and go, we are born, we live, and we die. Why am I? I wonder! Do you wonder? 

In the quiet between Christmas Joy and New Year fireworks, I ponder the lessons for the First Sunday after Christmas. Will pastors predictably preach about refugees, the Holy Family as immigrants? Or will the topic be the slaughter of babies by abortion? Or is there something more? Do you wonder? 

In this quiet week, Ron and I walk the beach holding hands, marveling at the energy of the sea with white clouds dancing across the blue-sky overhead, caught up in the oneness of belonging to the universe, the wonder of the incarnation! God with us! Do you wonder? 

Abba Father, Thank you for opening my eyes to wonder! Thank you for the holy quiet, the sweet stillness in my soul. Thank you for placing me on the earth beneath me, the sky and the stars above me, for your breath and spirit that flow through me with life in oneness with you. Amen.

 (Matthew 2:13-23 RSV)