1-3-25 - Getting There

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.

Until you’re there, you’re not. This is a truth I relearn every time I take a long journey. I want to be through the miles, onto the next leg of the route, arriving – but I can only be where I am at each moment. Until you’re there, you’re not.

The sages who had come so many miles in search of the new king whose star they’d seen rising in their night skies had reasons for wanting to get there. They had invested a great deal in this trip, trusting the stellar guidance as they read it. Maybe people at home had called theirs a fools’ errand; maybe they’d read the stars wrong. This Herod fellow certainly hadn’t known anything about a new king; he just sent them off toward Bethlehem. They didn't even know where "there" was. Until they were there, they weren’t.

But they had that star as a beacon: ...they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy.

Imagine what these star-followers felt when the guidance held true! Real men or mythic figures – or both – these sages were overwhelmed with joy when they were led to a simple house. And if they were surprised to find there an ordinary young family, we see no indication in their actions:  On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

What a way to greet a king, even one who didn't t look like one: in a house, not a palace; attended only by his mother. Our wise travelers were unfazed. They knew they had arrived where they needed to be. They had come with three goals – they wanted to see, they wanted to honor, they wanted to gift. And when they had done what they came to do, they went home, guided by the wisdom that had brought them to Bethlehem, to be ready for the next adventure.

Maybe we can find in their goals a guide to our devotion:

• To want to see Jesus. Make that a prayer; ask the Spirit to expand your faith vision to see Jesus wherever he might be in your life this week, in prayer, in worship, in his Word, in the poor, in other people…
• To want to honor Jesus. Offer Him praises, adoration in your heart, with your voice, in your actions…
• To give him precious gifts. What is precious to you that you want to offer Jesus? Your time? Energy? Relationships? Maybe ask what he would like you to give… you might be surprised at the answer.

This journey of seeing, honoring, giving is one we make over and over again, arriving “there” only to leave again. Each time we arrive where Jesus is we are strengthened for the next trip, which might be in five minutes, or five weeks; and on each journey we see the sights somewhat differently. Until we’re there, we’re not.

© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.

1-1-25 - Y2K

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.

Anyone remember New Years Eve, 1999? All the hype and fear surrounding the world’s passage into the year 2000 – you’d think we’d never entered a new millennium before. Well, of course, none of us had – nor had the world run on computer systems no one was sure would adapt to dates beginning with “2.” How many of us stocked extra water and flashlight batteries that week? And then went out and partied like it was 1999 – because, really, what else are you going to do? Things will work out, or not. Pop the corks and strike up the band.

We sure do like to know what’s going to happen next year, next day, next hour. And every once in a while something comes along to remind us how little control we really have over our circumstances. Maybe King Herod had such a moment in our story, hearing from foreign dignitaries of celestial indications that a king had been born for the Jewish people. In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired where the Messiah was to be born.

“But wait,” he might have thought, “I am the king of the Jews. Sure, I’m corrupt and despotic and completely at the mercy of my Roman overlords – but I AM the king… aren’t I?”

Herod’s unease was profound enough to infect his entire community – anxiety has a way of spreading into the systems in which we operate. And most of us, when we fear our well-being is threatened, will go into control mode: we will seek information and amass expertise and plan strategies, all to gain a sense of mastery over a situation we really can’t control. Herod gathered all the religious leaders and prophetic types and asked them to speak the unknowable, that which God had not yet revealed.

As we say goodbye to the year just past, a year of trauma and anxiety, gains and losses, achievements and challenges, death and life, what raises the most anxiety in you? What do you want to know that you cannot yet know, because the time for that has not yet come? A good New Years Day exercise might be to name those things and invite Jesus to sift them with you. Light a candle, and make a list.

And what are some changes you would embrace? How might you like to see your circumstances improved? It’s good to pray into those desires, inviting God to put flesh on your hopes and dreams as they align with God’s dreams for you.

The best prayer of all is this: What dreams is God inviting you to put flesh on today? And in this new year to come?

© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.

12-31-24 - On the Threshold of Grace

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.

Here we are - for a moment. The wheels of time are about to spin us into a new year. A new journey unfolds, new destinations, new challenges, new blessings. As we rest on this threshold, we might adopt the outlook of those magi who traveled so far to see this king their study of the stars indicated had been born: 

When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

Like the magi, we’ve heard of Jesus. We’ve even met him. But we don’t begin to know him. So this year let’s follow whatever stars we discern can lead us to a deeper acquaintance, even intimacy, with him. What might that look like in your life?

And when we arrive at those moments of connection and knowing, let’s allow ourselves to be overwhelmed with joy.

And let’s frequently enter the house where we know him to hang out, and offer our devotion, kneeling because that’s what you do when you’re overcome with gratitude and awe.

And let’s open our hearts and wallets, giving fully of ourselves to this One who’s given everything for us.

And when we return to our ordinary lives – for these moments of grace-filled connection don’t last forever; our lives are a string that connects these pearls into a beautiful strand – let’s go back by another route. Not because we are afraid, but because God is always leading us forward into new gifts, new blessings, new landscapes and vistas, new uses for our gifts, and new companions on the way. Where will the road lead you this year?

Wishing you every blessing as the New Year unwraps its gifts for you!

© Kate Heichler, 2024. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.

12-30-24 - Star-Chasers

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.

They knew their stars, these wise men, magi of scripture and legend, astrologers or astronomers from east of Judea (how far east? Everything’s relative…). They knew they had observed a new star in the night sky, and they knew how to interpret what they saw. According to their calculations, this one indicated a new king for the Jewish people – and this discernment induced them to leave home, undertake a lengthy journey of uncertain destination, find this new monarch and offer honor. Were they cultivating an alliance with a powerful new figure, or simply paying their respects? 

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.”

Their predictions got them to the right region, if not the precise location where this new king could be found. And so, logically, they began their search in Jerusalem at the court of the current king, Herod. Bad idea – but that’s how great stories come about. More on that later in the week…

Today, let’s rest with these travelers. I am touched by their priorities, their attention to the movement of the heavens, their conviction that they’d read the stars correctly, their willingness to put aside their daily lives and duties to travel to a foreign land and pay homage to a monarch they’d only learned about through astrological charts and observation. They are models for us of faith in action, even amid our global crises that just keep coming.

Is there a star you are chasing? Another way to ask that is:
Have you discerned a movement of God in your life or in the world around you?
Has it included a call to action for you?
Have you explored this with wise people in your life?
Have you been able to act on your discernment?
Have you been part of someone else’s discernment, been a “wise one” for another?

What divine action do you sense around you at this point in your life, on the cusp of a new year? This is often a time when we pay special attention to new movements in the greater arc of our lives, as the magi scanned the heavens for changes in the stars.

We have an advantage over those eastern sages – we already know the king they were seeking, or at the very least, we’ve been introduced. We don’t need to scan the heavens – we need only seek the light of Christ in and around us, and move toward that. That Star will give us all the direction we need.

© Kate Heichler, 2024. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.

1-6-22 - Epiphany

You can listen to this reflection here. The gospel for Epiphany is here.

Until you’re there, you’re not. This is a truth of journeying we rediscover any time we’re racing to a destination, a reunion, or enduring travel delays. (I was reminded of this last week, stuck in traffic on my way to a Covid-delayed family Christmas gathering.) We can only be where we are at any given moment. Until you’re there, you’re not.

The sages who had come so many miles searching for the new king, whose star they’d seen rising in their night skies, were anxious to get there, even if they weren’t quite sure what “there” would turn out to be. They had invested a great deal in making this trip, trusting the stellar guidance as they read it. Maybe folks at home had called theirs a fool’s errand; maybe they’d read the stars wrong. This Herod fellow certainly hadn’t heard anything about a new king; he just sent them off toward Bethlehem. Until they were “there,” they weren’t.

But they had that star as a beacon: ..they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy.

Hard to imagine what these star-followers felt when the guidance held true. Whether real men or mythic figures – or both – these sages from far-off lands were overwhelmed with joy when they were led to a simple house. If they were surprised to find there an ordinary young family, we see no indication in their actions: “On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”

What a way to greet a king, even one who looked nothing like a king: in a house, not a palace; attended only by his parents. Our wise travelers were unfazed. They knew they had arrived where they needed to be. They had come with three goals – they wanted to see, they wanted to honor, they wanted to gift. And when they had done what they came to do, they went home, guided by the wisdom that had brought them to Bethlehem, to be ready for the next adventure.

We can find in their goals a guide to our devotion:
To want to see Jesus. Make that a prayer; ask the Spirit to expand your faith vision to see Jesus wherever he might be in your life this week, in prayer, in other people, in the poor, at communion…
To want to honor Jesus. Offer him praises, adoration in your heart, with your voice, in your actions, in song…
To give him precious gifts. What that is precious to you do you want to offer Jesus? Your time? Energy? Relationships? Love? Maybe ask what he would like you to give… you might be surprised at the answer.

This journey of seeing, honoring, giving is one we can make over and over again, arriving “there” only to leave again. Each time we arrive we are strengthened for the next trip, which might be in five minutes, or five weeks. And on each journey we see the sights somewhat differently. And always our destination is the same – Home. Until we’re there, we’re not.

To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Next Sunday’s readings are here. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.

1-2-23 - Submission

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here. 

This coming Sunday we explore the story of Jesus’ baptism. For many decades in the early church, Epiphany was when Jesus' birth was celebrated (Christmas didn't come around till the 4th century and did not become prevalent until the 9th), and was considered the holiest time of the year for baptisms. Baptism is where our formal life in Christ begins – and baptism is where Jesus of Nazareth formally became the Christ. Yet this momentous blessing almost didn’t occur:

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

Maybe the evangelist Matthew was a lawyer; so often he seems to be citing precedent, marshalling supporting arguments, and anticipating objections. He alone of the Gospel writers tells us that John was uncomfortable having Jesus submit to his ritual of repentance. After all, by the time Matthew is writing, Jesus is already risen and ascended, worshiped as the sinless Son of God. Matthew is getting out in front of those who would question why Jesus should have undergone a baptism of repentance. So here John objects to what he perceives as the lesser baptizing the greater.

But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfil all righteousness.” Then he consented.

Jesus recognized that, if he was to share fully in our humanity, he needed to undergo this rite of cleansing. He willingly submits to this ritual, as later he submits to a corrupt trial and unjust sentence and hideous death. Over and over Jesus submits – and so subverts the sin and death from which he came to free us. Indeed, his Incarnation itself – God taking on the limitations of human flesh and nature, of boundedness in time and space – is submission, freely submitting in order to set others free.

Some in our churches, reacting to centuries of forced submission endured by women, people of color, enslaved and oppressed persons, would remove the language and rituals of submission from our liturgies. Though I understand the sentiment, this may be throwing out the baby with the bathwater. I suggest that the art of voluntary submission is at the heart of following Christ. It is central to the self-emptying love Jesus taught and lived. In following him, we voluntarily submit our prerogatives, our priorities, our time and resources, our wills, to the cause of self-giving love that heals and transforms the people around us. We might even say that submission is the heart of spiritual growth – learning to gradually submit ourselves to the love of God, overwhelming as that can be.

Where in your life do you submit – voluntarily, or not. (Not all submission is life-giving… yet in choosing to submit, we can often give life.) 

And where do you sense yourself hanging on to avoid submitting? What might be asked of you? To trust more? To give more? To spend time with someone difficult? To change careers? Ask Jesus to show you where he is inviting you to submit more of yourself, your agenda, to his. How do you respond? Our “yes” sometimes takes awhile…

Jesus does not ask of us anything he has not already done – perhaps that’s why the sinless one chose to go into the water that day. It was the beginning of his taking on the burden of our repentance. It was the beginning of life for us, there in that river.

To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Next Sunday’s readings are here. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.