The season of Advent and Christmas are time of great keenness and expectation. We look forward to the excitement, the celebration, with great anticipation. We have lived with visions of decorations and family, and presents, peace on earth and good will to all. And then there is the day after. And in the afterglow we come to the realization that we must live into that promise. And the hard work of other year of faithful pilgrimage begins. Imagine what that day after looked like for Mary and Joseph. They had been promised that they would parent Emmanuel – God with us. There must have been great excitement, anticipation, family celebration. There had been visits by shepherds and angels. But then the sun came up, and the serious work of raising the son of God began. In the afterglow and the dawning of a new day, they must wondered. How would they cope? What guidance did they have? Where would they find support? Did we dream all this? Our text for today gives us valuable clues to how to sustain ourselves for the long haul of living into God’s call as we too live into the pilgrimage of a new year.