For Reflection Roundup each week, we gather news stories, notable pieces, and other important items for Christian leaders today. As always, listening broadly draws together differing perspectives from which we can learn but may not concur. Here are 5 things worth sharing on a lighter week as we awaken to the new year.

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As Epiphany wafts past today, let’s not miss the magnitude of the message through the Magi: the gospel is for all.

1. Overwhelmed with joy! The long journey of the Magi, drawn to Jesus through creation herself in the star, offers God’s nod to Jesus’s mission. All are chosen for salvation. Throughout Christian tradition, there is a practice unique for marking this day, as explained in “Observing Epiphany” by Rachel M. Srubas for Presbyterians Today. This article has a few years on it, but it’s as good an account as any I’ve found. The mark for the “chalking of the doors” this year would look like this: 20+C+M+B+22. Read the article to understand the multiple meanings and the impact the prayers of this night had on a family who was seeking divine guidance for both themselves and the foster children in their area.

2. God’s time for perfection is coming, but in the meantime – the “not yet” – we do with what we have, with who we have, all of us. For the Christian Century, Peter W. Marty shares about “St. Dymphna and her legacy of care.” Her legacy is evident in those who minister to Marty’s brother, who has suffered with mental illness for many years. The holiday may have given us glimpses into the lives of those very different from our own, some of whom are in our very own families. Marty’s piece describes a community that ministers to these differences while taking them in stride and eagerly anticipating the day when all will be prime and complete.

3. I came across this piece while needling through the course of one of my colleagues, Laura Callarman. “Why Trying New Things Is So Hard to Do” is definitely worth sharing with students, but this New York Times piece by Sendhil Mullainathan might just tip any one of us closer to someone or something that will prove to be a real blessing. Maybe even in a practical, mundane kind of way. “Experimentation is an act of humility, an acknowledgment that there is simply no way of knowing without trying something different.”

4. Year-end lists are fun … or overwhelming if we must read all of them. Christianity Today has given us plenty to do with a special series “Christianity Today’s Top Testimonies of 2021”! Since they’re ranked in order of popularity, it’s interesting to see what has been important to people (FYI, they’re presented in reverse order). Maybe bookmark the webpage and read one a day for the next few weeks? This is boots-on-the-ground, Jesus-changing-people’s-lives-last-year kind of stuff. Wonder what he’ll do this year?

5. And finally, the “word of the year” for 2021: grace. First seen here.