Devotion for the First Week of Epiphany

Recently I read a story about a man by the name of Jim Egan who worked at the West Coast Computer Fair in 1977. His job was to help customers decorate their booths. Industry shows are the cheapest way to reach customers within the trade, but some undercapitalized entrepreneurs hardly have enough to rent a booth, let alone pay for the decorations.

Egan was approached by a couple of long-haired young men who wanted some chrome displays to make their booth "look flashy." Egan said he had the displays but they were for rent. The young me said they were short of cash, but perhaps Egan would rent the chrome displays to them in exchange for some stock in their company. Egan, who had seen companies come and go in his twenty years in the business, said he would accept only hard cash.

So Steve Wozniak and Steven Jobs did without the chrome, fixed up their booth, and kept the stock in Apple Computer to themselves. Sometimes it is a good thing to catch someone else's dream.

The story of the New Testament is the story of men and women who got close enough to Jesus to catch his dream. Doesn't it amaze you how quickly the disciples left their fishing nets to follow Jesus? What are you waiting for?

And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. Mark 1:17 - 18

Devotion for the Week of Epiphany

Recently we heard about Jay Leno’s deal to stay with NBC, even though he will no longer be the host of The Tonight Show. The Tonight Show, has a long history on NBC. Since 1954, someone has hosted The Tonight Show and it has followed the basic format for all of these years. The stage, curtain, host, band and furniture has changed over the years, but not the format. It is a type of late night liturgy - but I digress.

Before Leno became the host in 1992, Johnny Carson was “Mr. Tonight Show” and started each show with a monologue and then talked to guests who sat on the couch while he was behind the desk. However, he did not have any guests on his last show. Instead he started by thanking his family, who was in the audience. He then talked about one of his sons who had been killed in an automobile crash a year or so before. Johnny said, "Life does what it's supposed to do." Then he said something to the effect, "And then you move on."

For some of us, last year was the worst year ever. Many people lost jobs, many were laid off, many found themselves having to cope with less income and more stress. Others experienced death in their families which left them hurting and grieving. Whatever might have happened to us in the last year, the start of a new year is a time to free ourselves from the past and start over. NEW BEGINNINGS ARE POSSIBLE. We are set free when we realize that we are not trapped by what has happened to us in the past.

Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. Luke 21:28