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Looking Back as I Step Forward

January 6, 2026

Isaiah 60:1-6|Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14|Ephesians 3:1-12|Matthew 2:1-12

As I have grown older, I have begun to realize that conflict is something particularly unavoidable in life. I have found that as I have transitioned into young adulthood, the weight of responsibility and stress seem to have overwhelmingly increased. In many ways, this has not come as a surprise. I feel it is a common complaint of many adults in my life, who agree that sometimes, the world can be just too much. My life for the past year has been engulfed in deadlines and work, leaving me frequently feeling exhausted and overwhelmed. I find that when this stress becomes too much for me to handle, I can often get some peace from church.

This week’s Old Testament reading from Isaiah calls us to look for the light of God that has risen. It calls us to “Lift up your eyes and look around” to see how God is here for us, and when we see, our “heart shall thrill and rejoice.” When any of us get enveloped in the stresses of life, we forget to take the time to look around. We become so fixated on the responsibilities of life that we forget to live a life fueled by the love God has for us instead of the pressures of society.

As we ponder the ways we can live deeply with God, I believe that this reading shows us that nothing in life has to be particularly complicated. If we look at life more simply, we can find a unique joy, peace, and satisfaction with how we live. While I thought about this perspective, I realized how similar this way of living is to the way I used to think about life. I believe that through looking back and remembering how it felt to be a young child, you can find God’s light in everything. On the day of Epiphany, when the Wise Men found the baby Jesus, they had trekked hundreds of miles to reach him. Still, the moment had an air of simplicity and comfort.

They had traveled to find the light and peace in the world in the face of a child.

Tori Cormier