After Epiphany...

After Epiphany--after feeling inspired and empowered--it might be nice to coast a bit. Alas, not to be.

The lesson from Isaiah doesn't speak of rest but of challenge.

Thus says the Lord...
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.

Mostly, I'd rather the Lord be with me on the banks of the river instead of in the river. And with me toasting marshmallows around the fire instead of leading me into the fire itself. But being in the river and in the fire is part of the grace (and reality) of our baptism.

The Epiphany season journey of the Magi is one way to look at the One Great Journey. We're called by something irresistible and wonderful and we choose to go and are given light to find the way.

The experience of Israel uprooted and dragged away is another way to look at the One Great Journey. So many things happen in lives that land us in places we really don't want to be.

God promises to be with us in both places. Both in inspiration and desperation, and the wonderful and terrible challenge is to open our tender and vulnerable hearts equally in both places, which requires courage and practice.

We'd rather grace come all by itself, without any effort on our part (isn't that what grace means?). Yes and no.

As Norman MacLean writes in A River Runs Through It, " all good things -- trout as well as eternal salvation -- come by grace and grace comes by art and art does not come easy."