Christmas Beginnings
by Bob
Hansel
The
holiday season has become for lots of people more of an obstacle
than a celebration—something to be endured and survived. By
now most of us have had about all we can take of crowded stores,
syrupy electronic Christmas music, and
interminable traffic tie-ups. We’re tired and frazzled by
all of the chores that have to get done, presents that have to be
purchased and wrapped, and the mind-numbing logistics of travel
plans and party schedules. Lots of folks tell me, in all candor,
that they’ll just be glad when it’s all over, so they
can pack up the ornaments and life can get back to its normal routine.
The
problem with that attitude is that it reveals exactly how mistaken
we are about the nature of Christmas. Properly understood, Christmas
is not just a day or even a season of the year—an event on
the calendar that arrives and passes. No, Christmas is much more
than that. It is a permanent change that enters into our world,
“for keeps,” affecting every one of our attitudes, actions,
and relationships for the rest of our lives.
Howard
Thurman in a collection called The Work of Christmas puts
it this way:
When
the angels’ song is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and the princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
—
To find the lost
— To heal the broken
— To feed the hungry
— To release the prisoner
— To rebuild the nations
— To bring peace among the brothers
— To make music in the heart.
Christmas
is, you see, not an END of anything. It is the beginning of a whole
new way of understanding the world, each other, and ourselves. Christmas
is the arrival date for a gift that must be opened up and put to
use if it is to make any difference at all.
It
all STARTS right now. Christmas is God’s way of presenting
himself to us, in-person, offering to enter into our hearts to STAY.
The Incarnation is, literally, “the enfleshment”—God’s
compassionate Spirit is born within each of us, yearning to find
daily expression in actions of Thanks-living.
Where
do we go from here? We go out, each one of us, to carry God’s
gift into that difficult, challenging, frustrating, and wonderful
world for whom the gift has been given. You and I are the delivery
system. What a gloriously beautiful plan.
Merry
Christmas! Happy New Year! God bless us all!
Originally
published December 28, 2003 in THE CHRONICLE, the newsletter
of Calvary Episcopal Church, Memphis, Tennessee,
Copyright
©2003 Calvary Episcopal Church |
