December 25th is ending, after all the talk about the exactness of the date - it's not about the calender, it about the FACT that God's Son came to live with us, after all the frantic getting and spending - not that you may have liked what you got, the preparations - meals, trees. creches, rooms.
And then that haunting line recurs "No room; there was no room for them in the inn. So God had to stay outside.
Not much different today, I think, so I'm tempted to ask once again,'what difference did Christ's coming make to this world?' God has remained respectful of his creation, not pushy, not controlling, not demanding attention or allegiance. God has shown once again that humankind is worth his attention and the best he has to offer. God is not fed up with us. And this is reason enough to celebrate Christmas, to go beyond the world weariness and the cynicism that could so easily blind us to the power of Christmas. So let us rejoice that God is with us in the midst of this confused and confusing world we are creating, to show us the that we are loved, precious in his eyes, and infinitely valuable. So hurray for today and everyday of life.
Sunday 25 December 2011
Thursday 8 December 2011
Advent is about Openness
Openness... I remember reading a book, Beginning to pray by Archbishop Anthony Bloom, a long time ago. One image has stayed with me, "curled about the centre of your own emptiness".
I cannot remember what he was talking about, but the image of a wood shaving to describe a self-centred person has never left me. A wood shaving can look attractive, especially when it has freshly fallen from the plane or the pencil sharpener, but it is brittle, hollow and of relatively little usefulness. As Christmas approaches, I recommend that we pause briefly to ask, "What is at the centre of my life? What forms the core of my being? The answers may disconcert, and unless it is God and the things of God, then we risk being like the wood shaving.
St. Augustine described being in sin as "being turned inward on onself", the image is of a foetus, a bolum in our folklore. Christmas is about birth, new life, generosity and hope.
CATCH THE SPIRIT!
I cannot remember what he was talking about, but the image of a wood shaving to describe a self-centred person has never left me. A wood shaving can look attractive, especially when it has freshly fallen from the plane or the pencil sharpener, but it is brittle, hollow and of relatively little usefulness. As Christmas approaches, I recommend that we pause briefly to ask, "What is at the centre of my life? What forms the core of my being? The answers may disconcert, and unless it is God and the things of God, then we risk being like the wood shaving.
St. Augustine described being in sin as "being turned inward on onself", the image is of a foetus, a bolum in our folklore. Christmas is about birth, new life, generosity and hope.
CATCH THE SPIRIT!
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