As the dawn of 2024 breaks upon us, we extend the warmest wishes for a year filled with health, safety, and spiritual depth. This episode is a tender farewell to the old year, and a hopeful embrace of the new, weaving together the timeless story of Epiphany and the journey of the Magi with our modern-day quests for divine guidance. We explore the rich tradition found in the Gospel of Matthew and consider how, like the Magi, we too are called to follow the star in our own lives, seeking out the Christ child with gifts of our own hearts and spirits.
This season of reflection reaches its zenith as we share "A Blessing for the Seekers," an evocative poem by Reverend Sarah Speed. Her words serve as a beacon for all who wander in search of wonder, hope, and the presence of God. Together, we uncover the beauty in being seekers, the joy of our discoveries, and the profound simplicity in offering our lives as gifts. Through poetry and prayer, let us journey into 2024 with eyes wide open to the manifestations of God around us, sharing love and light with every step. Join me in celebrating a blessed New Year and a joyous Epiphany.
Welcome to Resilient Faith, the podcast. Opportunities to find deeper resilience within ourselves can come when life seems most challenging. This podcast is to help you develop that resilience and connection with God. Being resilient and having power starts with faith. Welcome, friends, to another episode of the Resilient Faith podcast and the first episode of 2024. Hooray, hooray, hooray. Well, happy New Year to you. I hope that this New Year finds you healthy and safe, wherever you are. However, you are listening to this podcast today, I hope and pray that you feel the spirit of God surrounding you and upholding you, bringing us together into this New Year. With gratitude and thanksgiving, we say goodbye to 2023. So long, see you later. And we welcome with gratitude and anticipation 2024, praying for health and safety for all of those around the world who need it so desperately. We pray that the spirit of God will remain with us, no matter what we face in the year to come.
Speaker 1:
We are going to be celebrating Epiphany this season, as we always do so. Christmas begins, of course, on December 25th, and then we are in Christmas tide for 12 days, the 12 days of Christmas. It's not just a fun song, it's also a 12-day liturgical season, and then it ends on January 6th with Epiphany, and Epiphany is the day that we celebrate the Magi, the wise men coming from the east, from a place unknown, to find the baby Jesus, to follow a star, to follow their dreams and find Jesus and bring him their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. So traditionally, on Epiphany we read this passage of the Magi the Magi are only found in the Gospel of Matthew. They are in chapter 2 of Matthew's Gospel. That is the only place where we find the story of the Magi. But we celebrate the Magi on Epiphany. We celebrate them following this star to find Jesus to deliver their gifts. We follow the story of their deceit of King Herod and the way that they listen to their dreams to return home another way after connecting with this Christ child.
Speaker 1:
Last week I read a poem from my colleague, reverend Sarah Speed, for Christmas Tide. So today I wanted to close this Christmas tide season with an epiphany poem by the same colleague, reverend Sarah Speed. So here's a poem for epiphany and it is called A Blessing for the Seekers. Blessed are you who turn your face up to the sky, who open your arms to feel the wind, who notice all the things that we should notice. Blessed are you who are fluent in wonder and familiar with awe. Blessed are you who, even now, dream dreams, who have not lost hope, who swear the glass is still half full. Blessed are you who plant trees and sing the harmony, who tell the children how this world can be magic. Blessed are you who walk and see and turn over every stone, pointing out all the corners and colors that God lives in. Blessed are you. Amen.
Speaker 1:
Well, beloveds, whatever it is that you are seeking this year, this epiphany, I hope and pray that you will feel God's presence with you, that you will see that God has manifest in your life and in the world. I pray that we will feel blessed as we follow the star to find the baby Jesus, as we present Jesus with the gift of our very lives and as we go out into the world to share the good news, to tell the story, to continue from generation to generation the good news of God's great love for each and every one of us. Friends, happy New Year, blessed epiphany, and may God bless us today and always. May it be so, amen. You've been listening to Resilient Faith. The podcast Resilient Faith is sponsored by Brentwood Presbyterian Church in West Los Angeles. You can follow our church and this podcast on Facebook at BPCTeam and Instagram at BPC underscore USA. Make sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and thanks for listening.