January 17, 2021 (Epiphany 2) 1 Samuel 3:1-10, (11-20); John 1:43-51 My daughter Maya was the New Year’s Eve party planner at my house. She brainstormed activities and wrote them on little pieces of paper to put inside a bunch of balloons. Every half hour, we were supposed to pop a balloon and do whatever it said inside. At about 7:00, we popped our first balloon. “Sing Christmas songs,” it directed us. And so a few of us gathered happily around the piano and sang our favorite carols. At 7:30 we popped the next balloon: “Make New Year’s Resolutions.” We all groaned -- no one wanted to do it. Truth be told, I’ve never been a big New Year’s resolution fan. Every year I end up with pretty much the same ideas that I never stick with for long. But I think this time, it was more that I didn’t think I needed to make resolutions. 2020 was a rotten year, but 2021 was going to be totally different. Vaccinations would allow us to be with our loved ones. Our political mess would heal