From the Manse: A Thought for the Week
Sunday 18th January 2026
Week 2 – Recognising the Light
Dear friends,
As we move through January and onwards from Epiphany, I find myself
returning to the moment when the Magi finally arrived at the house and
interestingly what they found there was not what they might have expected.
There was no palace, no throne, no obvious display of power or
importance. Instead, there was a child, with his mother, in an ordinary
home (or some other building). And yet, somehow, they recognised that this
was exactly where the light has led them. This — quiet, humble,
unassuming — is the holy place they had been looking for.
The Magi story shows us that their story is not only about light appearing,
but also about learning how to recognise and follow it. That can be difficult
for us, because we often expect God to show up in big, dramatic ways. We
look for certainty, clarity, and signs that cannot be missed. Yet again and
again, the story of faith tells us that God’s presence is often far quieter than
we expect.
“The Word became flesh.”
God chose vulnerability.
Light came into the world not as a blaze, but as a baby.
At the start of a new year, many of us may be asking questions like these:
Where is God at work now? What is God doing in my life? What am I
meant to be paying attention to? Epiphany gently suggests that the
answers may already be closer than we think. For the light of Christ is often
found in small kindnesses, in conversations that linger in our hearts, in
moments of stillness we almost rush past, in compassion offered or
received. It may appear in places we would not naturally look — in weakness
rather than strength, in waiting rather than action, in things that feel unfinished or uncertain.
Notice that when the Magi recognised the light, they responded not with
noise or celebration, but by kneeling. They offered what they had. They
acknowledged that this seemingly ordinary moment was, in fact, holy.
Recognition, you see, changes how we respond. When we begin to notice
where God is present, we slow down. We listen more carefully. We
approach our lives, and one another, with a deeper sense of reverence.
Therefore, this week’s invitation is a simple one: to ask ourselves what we
might be overlooking. To stop and wonder where is the light quietly present
in our lives, waiting to be noticed?
You might like to take a moment of silence this week — even a brief one —
and ask God to open your eyes to signs of light you may have missed.
As we continue on our journey with the Light, may we trust that it is here —
sometimes hidden, sometimes humble, but always real.
With every blessing,
Rev Jade