Apparently the Monday after Epiphany was once identified as Plough Monday in England, because it was the day on which spring ploughing began, and men had to get back to their normal routine of farm work again.

The day after Epiphany was also facetiously called St. Distaff's Day in some parts of England. A distaff is a part of a spinning wheel, and this day was so called because it was the day that the women stopped behaving in holiday mode and went back to their usual occupations, represented by spinning.

In both cases the message is the same: the holidays are over, and it is time to go back to work. In the part of Canada that I live in, our children are going back to school today. Many of us will be back at our places of employment today, ready (or not ready!) to get down to business once more.

But even though the holidays are over, and even though we have packed up the Christmas gear for another eleven months or so, Christmas should still be with us. Jesus does not get packed away with the ornaments. We can't put the manger and the baby away and forget about them. If what we've heard and said and done over the past few weeks has any meaning in our lives at all, then the message of Christmas needs to be something that we keep thinking about all year long.

As we return to our daily routine, be it ploughing, or spinning, or studying, or sitting at a desk, or driving a truck, or teaching, or making a home, or whatever our own particular daily routine may be, let us reflect on the message of Christmas, and keep that message alive in our hearts until Christmas comes round once more.

Luke 2:19 – But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. (NRSV)

Prayer: God of love, we thank you for the gift that you have given to us this Christmas. May this gift, your only son, be present in our hearts and minds at all times as we move through your world from day to day. May we, like Mary, continue to ponder your words and your deeds in our hearts. For we ask it in the name of your son, our Lord. Amen.

From about the year 1400 on, the Sunday after Easter has been known as "Low Sunday" in parts of the Church. After the joy and celebration of Easter, things calmed down again, and Low Sunday marked a return to regular worship services. Christ was risen, but life went on more or less normally.

My wife and I always decorate the interior of our home for Easter. We hang wooden rabbits from the light fixture in the dining room. The Easter eggs that are in various places around the house remind us of the new life of the resurrection. A dish of hollow plastic eggs sits on the dining room table. There is an egg for each day from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, each containing something that recalls one of the events in this special week. An Easter lily blooms in the living room, filling the house with its sweet scent.

Today we will take the Easter things down, and put them away in the furnace room for another year. The Easter lily will stay and bloom a bit longer, though its days are numbered. But there is a part of our lives that should not go back to "normal" (whatever that may be) following Easter. The joy of the resurrection is not something we can pack away with the rabbit ornaments and the hollow plastic eggs. The joy of the risen Lord is not something that we rejoice in only during the week after Easter. It is something that we need to keep with us throughout the year.

May this Low Sunday be the first of many high, joyful Sundays, as we journey from this past Easter to the next! May we all walk in joy, rejoicing in the power of the risen Lord always!

Prayer: God of love and joy, we thank you once again for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. May we live in the joy of the risen Lord, and may we share that joy with those around us through the coming year. Amen.

This promise, which Jesus made to his disciples just before his ascension, was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit came down on the disciples as they were gathered in the room in Jerusalem. Following this, Peter preached what could be called the first Christian sermon. It was a very successful sermon: the Bible tells us in Acts 2 that after Peter had finished speaking, about 3,000 new believers were added to the group.

Today is Pentecost. On this day, nearly 2,000 years ago, the Holy Spirit came down upon the disciples, and the work of the Church began in earnest. As Jesus had promised, the disciples received the power of the Holy Spirit, and then they went out to be Christ's witnesses "to the ends of the earth." On the day of Pentecost, the Church of Jesus Christ came to life. So today is the Church's birthday! Happy birthday, everybody!

So what are we waiting for? If today is the Church's birthday, shouldn't we be throwing a party? I baked a cake yesterday, and put some candles on it, and this morning at our children's story time we will sing, "Happy Birthday" and blow out the candles. After worship we will share the cake. What other things could we do to celebrate the Church's birthday?

However we choose to celebrate this day, let us give thanks to God for the work of the Holy Spirit, which brought the Church to life and still sustains it today! Hallelujah!

Prayer: God of joy, we give you thanks on this day for the life of your Church. You brought it to life through the power of the Holy Spirit, and that same Spirit is alive in it today. We praise you for all of the wonderful things you have done! Amen.

Gideon was aware of his own limitations. When God told Gideon that he had chosen him to deliver Israel from the Midianites, Gideon was surprised. "But God," said Gideon, "how can I do this for you? I am the least of my family, and my branch of the family is neither large nor significant. How can I be the one you have chosen for this tremendous job?"

But God already knew all about Gideon's limitations. God did not choose Gideon because he was a mighty fighter, or because he commanded a huge army. Gideon was not chosen for his tactical skill or his range of weapons. God told Gideon that he would be able to do what God asked, because God would be with him. Gideon was not in this alone; he had God at his side. And Gideon went out, did what God called him to do and followed God's instructions, and Gideon was successful in driving out the Midianites.

Often in life we hear God calling us, nudging us to do something. "Oh, no," we say. "You must have the wrong person, God. I can't do that. I haven't got those kinds of gifts, or the time, or the strength. I'm not the right person for this job. There are others who could accomplish this far better than I could. Choose someone else."

But God's call does not rely on our strengths alone. When God gives us a task, God will help us to accomplish it. Just as God was with Gideon, God will be with us, too. We need not fear the tasks that lie ahead, because it is not up to us to tackle them alone. We must never forget that God is at our side, and it is not our strength, but God's strength, that will get the job done.

Prayer: God, you call us to do many things. Help us to listen and answer when your call comes. Remind us that it is not up to us alone to do what you ask of us, but that you will be with us to help and support us. Amen.

As I was driving along the highway one day, a white sports car came barrelling up behind me at a tremendous pace and swung out to pass. I was driving a little over the speed limit myself, but the teenager in the white car shot past me like I was standing still. The car disappeared from view in no time, and I muttered to myself that there was never a police officer around when you wanted one.

But about ten miles further on, I noticed the same white car sitting at the side of the road, with a police car pulled up behind it. The officer was writing up a ticket. I'm sure that one cost the driver quite a bit. "Aha!", I said to myself with a grin, "It serves the idiot right!"

Later, while reading the book of Jonah, I recalled this incident, and compared my feelings toward the driver of the white car with Jonah's feelings toward the people of Ninevah. Jonah told God that he did not want to go to Ninevah because he knew that if he warned the people of Ninevah to turn away from their wicked ways, they would probably do so. And Jonah knew that because God is forgiving, if the people of Ninevah did turn from their ways, God would forgive them. To Jonah's mind, this was more than the people of Ninevah deserved. Like all of us, Jonah wanted to be forgiven when he did something wrong. But like many of us, Jonah was not quite ready to see that same forgiveness extended to others.

Yes, the driver of that car deserved a speeding ticket. But was it right for me to be so smug about watching him get what I thought he deserved? We want God to be abounding in love toward us, while at the same time ready to punish others. But we should remember that in the Lord's Prayer, we ask that we might be forgiven, as we forgive others. This also means that we should forgive others, as we ourselves would want to be forgiven. And in the end, that means that we should pray that God will forgive others, just as we would have God forgive us.

Prayer: Gracious and merciful God, we are grateful that you are slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. All this is more than we deserve. Amen.

I'm sure that many of us have picked up a child who has fallen, or is upset for some reason or other, and said, "Now stop crying. You're all right. It didn't hurt that much." I catch myself saying this to my four-year-old daughter from time to time, and always wince just after I've said it. I need to find some better way of reassuring her, one that does not belittle her concerns or ignore her pain.

Some time ago I had the opportunity to watch a congregation and its leaders deal with significant conflict. I think I have learned two important things from this experience. First, though these two actions may at times resemble one another, there is a difference between gossiping and asking for help. When people have been hurt, they have a real need to talk to someone about it. People may sometimes need to share their pain, not out of maliciousness, but in order to heal.

Secondly, and more importantly, in order for there to be healing, we must acknowledge that there has been hurt. When people tell us that they are hurt, we need to do something other than say, "It'll be okay," or "Things can't really be that bad." Emotional and spiritual hurts are just as real as physical hurts, and they require healing just as much or more. If we say, "'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace," if we try to tell people that they aren't really hurt, then we are treating the wound of God's people carelessly.

Thankfully, the congregation I am speaking of was blessed with a member who had the ability to listen to people's pain, and help them work toward healing. He could hold out his hand during worship and say, "Peace be with you," and they knew that he meant it, and that he would really work to help them achieve peace in their life. His validation of people's pain did a great deal to bring healing into many lives. When faced with conflict, we need to remember that the wounds are real, even if we ourselves cannot see them. Our task, with Jesus' help, is to work to heal those wounds — and we cannot do that until we recognize that they exist.

Prayer: God of unity, you know that all too often your church is torn apart by conflict. We ask that, where your people are wounded, you would work through us to accomplish healing. Use us to bring your peace to all your people, not simply by saying, "Peace, peace," but by real compassion, understanding, and love. Amen.

One of the joys of my job as a dictionary editor is that I have the opportunity to learn many interesting tidbits about the language we speak. Some of these are merely entertaining; others teach me something about my life or my faith. A couple of years ago I came across the etymology of the word "Maundy", as in "Maundy Thursday", and since then I have seen this Thursday before Easter in a new way.

The English word "Maundy" dates back to the fifteenth century. It comes to us from an Old French word, which is in turn derived from the Latin word mandatum, meaning "commandment". (Our word "mandate" comes from this same Latin word.) This is the word used in John 13:34 in the Latin translation of the Bible.

John's account of the night of the Last Supper includes a long discourse by Jesus to the disciples. There are many interesting and valuable thoughts in this portion of John's Gospel. But centuries ago the church realized that the most important point in what Jesus said to his disciples that night was that they should love each other as he had loved them. This verse gave this day the name by which many Christians still know it.

So Maundy Thursday, or "Commandment Thursday", could also be called "Love Thursday". Today is all about love. It is about the love of a Saviour for his people, the people whom he has come to save, and the people for whom he will go to the cross. It is also about our love for one another. One of the last things Jesus told his disciples before his arrest and crucifixion was that they should love one another as he had loved them. By this the world would know that they belonged to Jesus.

On Maundy Thursday, we can pause to reflect on the love of Jesus for us, and on our love for one another. Do we show the world around us that we are Christians by loving each other as Jesus loved us? Do we love one another as Jesus loved us? Personally, I think I can still learn a lot about love by reading Jesus' words and following his example.

Prayer: God of love, you sent your Son to show us how to love one another. As we prepare to commemorate his death and resurrection, grant that we might come to love one another as Jesus loved us. Amen.