“This is the message you have heard from the beginning: we should love one another…” I John 3

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This first week in the New Year always holds special meaning for me. Primary, of course, is that January 6th is the traditional celebration of Armenian Christmas!  (In the West we know it as Epiphany, and the image of Wise Men and camels come to mind.) January is also the month when my family honors all the saints who have left this life to dwell forever in the peace of God:  my mom, my sister and my aunt.  Each of them left indelible marks on my life – even though it is taking me time (probably the rest of my life!) to understand and appreciate them!

I also look forward to reflecting on the words from the First Letter of John (quoted above), because they are an invitation to consider the year TO COME, just as anticipating the New Year was an opportunity to look back. 

The message is that we are to greet each person we encounter with the same enthusiasm as those Wise Men from the East greeted the babe…  We are to practice the spiritual discipline of that babe who grew up to be known by us as Emmanuel, God-With-Us, and who practiced his spiritual discipline not just in “word or speech, but in deed and truth.”

What is the message YOU have heard from the beginning?
Can you remember HEARING it or WITNESSING it?

Ruth Poochigian
Madison WI

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