Salmon Patties, 15,000 and Getting Old

Hello Emmanuel,

What are you going to learn this season?

Epiphany is January 6^th.  It is the day that ends the Christmas season and begins a new season of ah-ha moments.  Epiphany runs until Ash Wednesday on February 10^th.  What will you learn before February 10^th?

Epiphany is a unique time of year.  Many of us will experience the post-Christmas letdown.  Some of us will be feeling blah.  Others of us will be feeling lonely.  We dread taking down the Christmas lights and the long nights and gray skies cast a dreary look on the world.  But what will you learn before February 10^th?

My suggestion?  Don’t wait for a lesson to find you.  Go find a lesson.  Study something.  Read about something new.  Become informed about a topic or an issue that you previously knew little about.  Proactive learning has its perks.  Foremost is avoiding looking like a fool before you learn something.  Learning something first keeps the fool from coming out in you.  It is also a good practice for a wise person. 

Epiphany is the season for ah-ah’s.  It is a season to find ways to turn that light bulb on and discovering a new perspective for that which you have already come to conclusions.  For example:  I used to detest salmon patties.  My mom would cook up that piece of yuck and I would dread the dinner experience…..

….and then I experienced the miracle of applesauce.  Drowning those salmon patties in applesauce made the dinner experience not only do-able, but actually rather pleasant.  The light bulb came on and I began experimenting with food combinations that allowed me to swallow the previously unswallowable.

What will you learn before February 10^th?

I learned that I am able to walk 15,000 steps during a Bengal’s game (6.59 miles).  I didn’t walk at a brisk pace for fear of pulling a calf muscle, but I did it.  Now I wonder how many more I could do.  20,000? 

What will you learn before February 10^th?

I learned that I can now deposit checks via an app on my phone.  I learned that this is old news.  I learned that I need to stay current on the hip ways of doing daily, mundane things.  I learned that I’m getting old.

What will you learn before February 10^th?

‘Tis the season for the ah-ah’s.  May you learn much this season.

God is Good,

Pastor Joe