Christmas is put away for another year. Our modern world is on ordinary time until Valentine's Day. But it's Epiphany now. Our almost secret celebration until our Ordinary Time nudges in for a bit before Lent.
With few watching, Epiphany declares the wisdom of adoration. Maybe it is good that the world has moved on. Maybe it allows more space for quiet. A little reflection and longing.
I find myself at this time both a child of the world and a child of the church. Prayers and readings remain grounded in the miracle of Christmas and Epiphany, but the kids have gone back to school and the rhythms of normal life marches on. Each year I find myself grasping backwards, trying to hold on to all that Advent anticipated. That desire inspired me to pen a new prayer.
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Epiphany's Prayer
I was there at the party
for you in your home
now it's back to the world
of the cars and the phones
The sparkle, the lights
The reminders of small
are packed up all tight
'til the end of next fall
Like the bleakness you entered
The emptiness here
is confusing and mad
and filled up with fear
I need the reminders
To follow the star
To not get distracted
From the places you are
To all that I think
makes me ok and smart
you smile and love past
into my broken heart
Christ child of the ages
Christ child of our time
Come even now
to this stable of mine
Make it be not too late
to kneel at the cradle
and offer my heart
as best as I'm able
Make it be not too late
to turn and to pray
for the grace to invite
the baby to stay
O little one sent
to fill us with light
keep hold of my finger
by day and by night
Copyright 2014, Michelle Dawn Jones
First published on CatholicMom.com