Nativity and Theophany always make me think of what lies ahead. In the midst of the joy we all experience during this time of year, we need to remember why Christ came, to suffer and die like all of us must one day do. Christ would not have been born if we were not suffering from the awful affects of the fall. All too often even in the Orthodox Church we tend to focus too much on the particulars of the feast being celebrated without remembering the big picture or why we are celebrating. None of this should take away from the joy of the feasts, but it should temper it. To those on the Julian Calendar I wish you a blessed remainder of St. Philip's fast, and to those on the New Calendar I say Christ is Born! And a happy New Year!