The Thrill is Gone

“The thrill is gone.”

Maybe it is the grey cold days after Christmas with the ongoing reality of the pandemic. Maybe I have missed hugs and gatherings too long now. Life is not so thrilling at the moment. Rhythm and Blues Music expresses it so well. B.B. King knew what he was singing about, “the thrill is gone baby. “

Perhaps similarly the holy family experienced the spell breaking reality of life. The thrill of the birth, the visit of the wise men who treated the child as a king, that amazing star that shone so bright would all fade into reality. The wise men returned by another road according to the gospel of Matthew and the family had to pack up and hide in Egypt from the long arm of the tyrant Herod.

Our spiritual journeys must take the same route. God’s desires is that the thrill of hope grow into a deep, mature, and abiding faith in God. The only way, as you know, is to seek God amid the difficult parts in life. When we actively seek God instead of becoming resentful, fearful or numb amid the hard realities is when we truly begin to live into our baptism. The spell might be broken, the thrill gone, yet when we seek God our hearts still rejoice.

Therein lies the wisdom in our tradition that the Sunday following the season of Christmas is always the Baptism of Our Lord. Even though chronologically in Jesus’ life a lot happens between his birth and his baptism in the Jordan. In our journey of Christian faith, the thrill of the birth of our savior needs to follow with a way to live amid the heartache of life.

This Sunday we will consider again the power and point of baptism in our world today.

Every Wednesday you receive news about our parish here are a few teasers for this month.

1. The 2021 stewardship campaign begins, “Make Us Instruments of Hope”. I ask you to consider a 2021 financial pledge.
2. On Saturday, January 16 at 5pm, Cory and Colleen Schipfer invite you to a first SJTL Saturday Night Social over Zoom.
3. Wiggle Worship is back.
4. The Vestry invite you to an Annual “Gathering” over Zoom at the end of the month and will report on 2020 and look ahead to mission and ministry this new and unusual year.
5. New Bible Study to begin later this month – Historical Jesus, Philippians and Gideon.

With You on the Journey,
Lisa