Preparing For Christmas
It's
a reality that so many people spend a majority of their time preparing
for Christmas by trying to find the right presents. Searching, buying,
hiding, wrapping, are the main activities in the build-up to Christmas
Day, and something that closely resembles panic sets in when, as seems
to happen even with the best laid plans, these tasks are all squeezed
into the few days before, or even into Christmas Eve. I too share some
guilt in this. My first inclination would be to blame my heavy calendar.
However, the truth is I'm hopelessly disorganised when it comes to
trying to decide what I want to give to whom.It seems important to give the right gift, and yet as the wonderfully acerbic poet John Betjeman memorably puts it in his famous poem 'Christmas,' we often end up giving or getting 'bath salts and inexpensive scent and hideous tie so kindly meant.'
Betjeman isn't meaning to dismiss these humble gifts, however. His point is that the inadequacy of the things we give at Christmas does not matter, because no gift could possibly compare with 'this most tremendous tale of all,' the gift of love eternal in a recognizably vulnerable human form.
And yet, it still seems true that we all want our gifts to be valued and remembered. Though Betjeman is right to think that no gift of ours stands in comparison with God's gift, the desire that our gifts have meaning behind them has a good theological basis as well. Giving is a way of putting ones self aside and making others matter. I choose the gift and pay for it, but what I choose and how much I pay is decided by your wants and needs. The right gift will always reveal our knowledge of the person who receives it.
And so it is with the Incarnation itself. It is a great mystery how the divine could become human, but however we understand it, it is essential to see that at its heart is God's setting aside His divine nature in order to enter fully into the humanity of His creatures.
Let us continue our advent journey thinking about those who are living in
darkness. They may be on the other side of the world from us, or right
next door. There are many reasons for walking in darkness - fear,
loneliness, oppression, depression, poverty, or violence.
God sees those in darkness and becomes light for them.
Lord, we name before you those we know who are going through times of
darkness. We think of them and ask, gracious God, that You may bring
them light, hope, love and direction. In Christ's name, Amen
posted by Father Bill Haymaker @ 09:49
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