And you will know him

Readings

This very day in King David’s home town a Saviour was born for you. He is Christ the Lord. You will know who he is, because you will find him dressed in baby clothes and lying on a bed of hay. Luke 2 11-12

Meditation

A Saviour was born for you. And you will know him. The CEV* has 'a baby in baby clothes', because strips of cloth or swaddling clothes meant to the shepherds just that – baby clothes. You will find an ordinary baby in a little town, born to your kind of people, something you would see every day - though most babies are not announced by angels!

God comes to the ordinary and everyday things and blesses them with His presence. Christmas to me is about God touching, inhabiting the earth he created and giving it new hope, reminding it of its sacredness. This takes me to the poem Saint Francis and the Sow by Galway Kinnell with remembrance of one’s loveliness evoked by touch and words that bless.

There is something about this story of the shepherds sent to see a 'baby in baby clothes'. A very ordinary sight. Although Jesus is obviously quite beyond us, is 'other' than us (note the angels), I believe when we encounter him we somehow know him. He is recognisable to us.

Kirsty Hook

* CEV Contemporary English Version

Yes

Readings

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. Revelation 21:3

The angel went to Mary and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be….

You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus... “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Luke 1:28-29,31,38

Meditation

Stories make us, they say.  We live within them, they infuse meaning and give potency to the most ordinary of acts. Mary’s story, stoked by her ‘yes’, is a good example of this.

'Yes' is a primary word I associate with the advent of Jesus.  Yes to being human, to planting our feet on this earth, to the full, gritty and awesome cycle of gain and loss, to finding our own place and way, to being alive.

Advent (as well as election season) challenges me to think about my own ‘Yes’s and equally my ‘No’s.

We cannot wait till the world is sane to raise our songs with joyful voice, for to share our grief, to touch our pain, God came with Love: Rejoice! Rejoice!

Madeleine L’Engle, from First coming

The Gospels do not give the sense of a Jesus in turmoil, of merely visiting and enduring his time on earth.  We are enfolded in His story and his story of epiphany, life on earth and his return to heaven, is replete with a very robust Yes!

Questions

As I read this, pausing and waiting, what ‘Yes’ to me about me and my story do I hear from Jesus?

To whom might you like to say ‘Yes’ to among family, friends, acquaintancies or strangers? How might you do that?

The spiral path

Readings

In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:4-5

The path of our lives, our experience of life, work and relationships (despite our best efforts and preferred idealised outcome), rarely follows a straight line, with its order and certainty.

Meditation

John says that the light of God is the source of all life.  At the core of creation, of the earth and of you and me is the light of God.  And so we turn our attention to events, to art and poetry, to personal experience as well as to scripture to catch the light of the God within that we may receive and reflect his life. The Celtic spirituality writer Philip Newell relates in his book The Book of Creation this meditation on the light that is at the heart of life:

I saw myself walking further and further down a spiral staircase into the darkness of the earth.  In my hand was a small candle that threw enough light for me to be able to see a few steps at a time. In the darkness I gradually became aware of a great fire of light that was deeper than the darkness.  Eventually I saw that it was a roaring blaze and knew that the little light in my hand was a mere spark of the great fire to lead me to itself...'the central fire of the universe'.  

Questions

In my story what is the candle?  Where am I receiving the small light that leads to the fire of the universe?  It might be books, acts of service, spiritual direction, relationships, nature prayer, discussion?  What does tradition point to as sources of light?

A life interrupted

READINGS

I must wait: sternest trial of all to sit/Passive, receptive, and patient, empty/…until/That other…/will step/From the shadows. From The Other, Ruth Fainlight

In Luke 1:17-25 an angel disturbs Zechariah, an old priest, in the middle of his working duties. He is told he and his aged wife will have a baby. Rendered speechless he tries to convey to others what has happened.

Stilling our restless energy

Here is a fly on the wall documentary, we are seeing a life interrupted. It also feels a lot like a comedy sketch. We're left to imagine for ourselves what body movements and facial gestures Zechariah conjures up. Maybe he swung his arms in an arc or puffed out his cheeks to portray the angel's size and touched his lips with a finger and forced his eyes wide to show in amazement.

To try and keep a life on track is a full time job. Interruptions thwart our plans (we think). They question the notion that we are the master of our own fate or direction. They may even throw us into turmoil. The emotions that erupt can be quite seismic, surprisingly and tellingly so.

I wonder if we were to contemplate this ‘interrupted life’ more deeply, step into Zechariah’s shoes, co-opt his story when we are in a disrupted space. We might choose to adopt or absorb the silence which stills his energy, his questions, his ‘what about?’s. Receptivity and patience may grow and might thereafter enable, what? Perhaps, that other, stepping out, from shadow.