Sunday, January 4, 2026
Eleventh Day of Christmas
Observed Sunday of Epiphany
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Buried treasure
See, darkness covers the earth,
and thick clouds cover the peoples;
but upon you the LORD shines,
and over you appears his glory.
Nations shall walk by your light,
and kings by your shining radiance.
Raise your eyes and look about;
they all gather and come to you:
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters are carried on the arm.
Then you shall be radiant at what you see,
your heart shall throb and swell with joy.
In the movie Lord of the Rings, Middle Earth is beautiful. Vast vistas overwhelm my senses. The creatures that inhabit the land are, of course, another story altogether. No surprise – evil is powerful, far more powerful than good. The dark warlord even has the power to create new beings out of mud for no purpose other than to make war. Thick darkness hovers over every land, every being, falling closer day by day.
Watching, I am caught up in the race between the forces of good and evil, peace and war, light and darkness. On the edge of my seat I beg for Frodo to be safe, to win the race, to reach the fires that can destroy the awful ring. Frodo is so frail. He is so innocent, so … human. Even at the end of the movie, there is no certainty and no victory.
We saw his star at its rising
And have come to do him homage.
But there is a moment that opens my eyes wide to the power of good, a radiant epiphany in the darkness of the caves below the earth. Gandalf, Frodo’s benevolent spiritual protector, stands on a narrow bridge with no guardrails, smashes his staff down on the bricks of the bridge, stares straight into the eyes of the spidery-black demon of the deep ready to devour Frodo and his band, and shouts with the power of righteousness, “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!”
Although a final wisp of power creates terrible havoc in the band, the demon does indeed Not Pass. And Frodo, carrying the ring so precious to the evil lord, moves forward.
And so … with fear and trembling, with faith and open open eyes, daring to believe in the epiphany with which God reclaims our attention … so do we.
Epiphany:
Stretching our sense of what is appropriate,
Forcing us to confront our own limited attempts at loving,
Startling us out of old thought patterns,
so we can more readily encounter mystery,
so we can humbly learn to heed dreams and follow stars,
so we can humbly learn to see God’s glory resplendent in a cradle of straw.”
–Elizabeth Anne-Stewart
As I close my eyes to the world, Lord, give me vision. As I shut my ears to the world, let me hear the strains of heaven.
(Isaiah 60, Psalm 72, Ephesians 3, Matthew 2)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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