I am typically a tree up until Epiphany kind of girl, but this year we bought our tree the Sunday after Thanksgiving because last year the size we wanted had sold out by mid-December. We didn’t want to have to make rounds like we did last year, but as a result, come Christmas our tree’s branches were reaching for the floor. Just a few days later, the tree looked more like a weeping willow begging to be stripped of its strange ornaments rather than a sturdy pine, festive with color and Christmas fun.
We took the tree down.
With the tree being down, the rest of the decorations felt forced, and so I packed everything up except the Nativity.
And suddenly my very full mantle, railings, shelves felt bare. My kids even commented: “Our front porch looks so weird. It’s empty…”(previously had a fake tree, garland, two lighted side tree, tiny trees lining the walkway, Christmas pillows on our rockers—now empty).
But the Nativity remained in the emptiness.
It made me think of the emptiness Mary felt in her body. Yes, she was holding baby Jesus in her arms, but any woman who has experienced pregnancy knows the bizarre feeling of not having a bulging belly. I wonder what the transition was like for her, from having our Lord within her, to knowing He was now apart in some ways. The beginning of a long road ahead for her.
The month of January too brought it’s own sort of emptiness, a bit like our house. Our December days were full. Almost too full and not only with holiday events, concerts and such, but also with travel, work, birthday parties and more. Let’s not forget the shopping, mailing, laundry, cooking and cleaning that seemed to expand in the busyness. So, January’s clearer calendars with a slower pace was welcomed but still felt foreign in a way. Yet, there was still one Christmas reminder remaining.
The Epiphany remained in the emptiness of our calendar.
It made me think of the magi and their gifts arriving a “belated” “12 days” after Christmas. Had things from the census quieted down by then? Were the wisemen surprised by the emptiness surrounding the newborn king they sought? And yet they presented lavish gifts to Him: frankincense, gold and myrrh.
I am wondering and praying about…in my newly emptied space, calendar and life, as I look ahead to the new year, what are the gifts I’m bringing to the Lord? What is my offering not just today on the Epiphany, but each day I look for Him?
What is the frankincense I am offering? How am I offering my soul and its growth to the Lord this year? How am I participating more in the spiritual life than the temporal life?
What is the gold? How am I offering how I use my time on earth to the Lord? How am I honoring the body He gave me as a temple for His Holy Spirit? How am I using what He has given as a gift for others?
What is the myrhh? How am I dying more to self for Him? How am I remembering His sacrifice in how I live my life? How am I preparing for death-Memento mori?
May your emptiness be filled by His love, life, and peace today as we celebrate the Epiphany and every day to come. May we offer gifts pleasing to Him this day and always.
“But whoever keeps his word, the love of God is truly perfected in him. This is the way we may know that we are in union with him: whoever claims to abide in him ought to live [just] as he lived.” 1 John 2:5-6 NABRE
“I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2 NABRE
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