There is so much going on in our world and especially in our country today that is frightening. I am a bit of a news junkie, but these days I am finding that I need to disconnect a bit more — and to instead spend more time with the fundamentals of our faith. I especially find it useful to come back to the baptismal covenant, which we renewed last Sunday as part of our service marking Jesus’ baptism….

We are now in the season of Epiphany; a time to mark the gradual lengthening of daylight, and to carry our celebration of God’s manifestation to us in the Christ child forward into a new calendar year. This year—as in every year—we face many unknowns. In all that will unfold during 2026, we are called to remember God’s companionship with us. God’s ongoing conversation with us, God’s loving presence, abides. It is not contingent on the choices we make or the details of the world we inhabit.

Matthew’s Gospel shows us that faith begins not with certainty but with seeking. The Magi do not understand everything. They misstep in going to Jerusalem instead of Bethlehem. They ask questions. They rely on grace. Yet God guides them still – by the star, by Scripture, and finally by a dream.

When they find the child, they fall to their knees. The Journey ends in worshiping the Christ child. Matthew then tells us something beautiful: “They went home by another road.” Encountering Christ does not leave us the same. It changes our direction, our loyalties, our way of seeing the world….