January 6, 2026
Today marks the occasion of Epiphany, the story told only in the Gospel of Matthew about the magis’ (wise men/kings) visit to the Christ-Child, sometimes titled “Little Christmas,” that brings the Christmas Season to a close in the Western Church. Whether the event is factual had nothing to do with why Matthew included it. Read it closely and you will find indicators of political power, jealousy, and rivalry that will identify the Christ’s lifelong human struggle (Matthew 2:1-12) and shape him into the “Second Moses,” Matthew’s purpose for him.
The story is filled with all sorts of imagery, imagination, and food for thought. The verse that most strikes me is that the magi “returned home by another route” (v. 12). Returning home by another route encompasses our own journeys when we change paths, directions, plans, let go of expectations, accept a challenge, either because of our own doing or because of life’s circumstances, each detour an opportunity to grow and seek, wonder and trust. Today, I share Jan Richardson’s poem, For Those who Have Far to Travel, for don’t we all?
Happy Little Christmas! ~ Rosemary
If you could see
the journey whole
you might never
undertake it;
might never dare
the first step
that propels you
from the place
you have known
toward the place
you know not.
Call it
one of the mercies
of the road:
that we see it
only by stages
as it opens
before us,
as it comes into
our keeping
step by
single step.
There is nothing
for it
but to go
and by our going
take the vows
the pilgrim takes:
to be faithful to
the next step;
to rely on more
than the map;
to heed the signposts
of intuition and dream;
to follow the star
that only you
will recognize;
to keep an open eye
for the wonders that
attend the path;
to press on
beyond distractions
beyond fatigue
beyond what would
tempt you
from the way.
There are vows
that only you
will know;
the secret promises
for your particular path
and the new ones
you will need to make
when the road
is revealed
by turns
you could not
have foreseen.
Keep them, break them,
make them again:
each promise becomes
part of the path;
each choice creates
the road
that will take you
to the place
where at last
you will kneel
to offer the gift
most needed—
the gift that only you
can give—
before turning to go
home by
another way.
from Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons. (c) Jan Richardson
Spirit Reflections 