"Consider the Child" (12.24.05)
It is good to be together on this Christmas Eve to sing carols and light candles with family, with friends, in the community we treasure. There’s something compelling about Christmas isn’t there?
Even while we rage against the rampant consumerism of the season, or are plunged into the dysfunction of hitherto forgotten family roles, or are lonely beyond belief, we find something of a salve in being together, in celebrating Christmas with each other. We find comfort in the warmth of family, respite from our frantic lives, joy in our service to the community.
There is something compelling about the Christmas story, even though we may not believe in a miraculous Virgin Birth and we recognize the remnant pagan roots of the many traditions of the season. We know that Jesus of Nazareth was not born on December 25, but that the date of his birth was placed near the Winter Solstice. We recognize the birth story as the story of the return of light and hope for the renewal of the earth; and while we may know the mythologies and metaphors, we are, though, nonetheless drawn into the Christian Christmas story.
Drawn into the story by virtue of our birth in western culture and, I would say, by virtue of deep truths revealed in the myths; which any oppression in the name of its founder have been unable to eradicate– we are drawn into the story. And we ask, “what child is this?”
So let us pause here at the birth story. Let us pause to consider the child. For it is the child that claims us and lures us to hope at this time of year.
What we find in the message of the Christmas story is the idea that the Sacred, the Spirit of Love, is incarnate in the world; incarnate in that most profound a symbol of new life, of possibilities, of hope – in a child.
And it is from children that we receive some of the most profound wisdom.
A few years ago while I was in Berkeley I visited my friends Lea and Billy and their, then two-year old daughter, Samantha. Samantha greeted me enthusiastically, yelling “Auntie Beth!” I was thrilled that she remembered me since I hadn’t seen her for six months. When I returned home, I had an email from Lea telling me of the family adventure of setting up the crèche for Christmas.
They set up the stable, the animals, the manger, the star. They put out the wise men, the shepherds, and Joseph and Mary. Samantha had the honor of placing the baby in the manger and as she did so she declared that it was “Baby Janice” – a little doll of color from the Groovy Girls dolls.
Lea and Billy then asked Samantha who the other people in the scene were. Samantha pointed to one of the shepherds and said that he was the father of the baby, she then pointed to the figure of Mary and declared that the mother was Auntie Beth. I was so pleased. For Samantha’s words point us to a deep truth – not that I am the mother of God! – but that the child need not be a son, the birth need not be virgin; and the message of Love is not obsolete.
Samantha’s naming of the baby “Janice” gives us the freedom to tell the story that the Spirit of Life and Love was found not only in the life of a remarkable Galilean, but is within us all.
Samantha’s renaming of mother and father suggests that we are, all of us, the mothers and fathers of the hope, beauty, and peace that the child’s birth was meant to inspire. The shepherds, the animals, the wise men, the stars, you, me; we are each of us witness to and co-creators of the hope and peace to which Love draws us.
This was not a once and only event. The incarnation of Love was the very creation of the beginning of time – it happened before the birth of Jesus, it happened then, and is happening now. It is present and active in all things and all people – at all times and everywhere.
Wherever hope abides amidst despair; wherever joy abides amidst sorrow; wherever love abides amidst hate; wherever peace is spoken amidst war; Love is happening there. This is a compelling truth of the story.
This is what the child announces to us.
In this time and this place, for us and for all beings – a love at once particular and universal draws us to a life peace and hope.
We gather to be with friends and family at Christmas to be inspired by the possibility that in a time of rampant war-making the idea of peace on earth and good will toward all may become more than a slogan, may somehow take hold. For this is the time of the year that we most dare dream of renewal and peace, most dare to hope boldly.
Let the child be a reminder of the promise of hope;
Let each star point us to the break-your-heart beauty of Life;
Let the wise men teach us that we each have gifts to bring to an aching, broken world;
Let the shepherds show us that the Divine Love is revealed to all and must be witnessed to by all;
Let us know that Love whispers to us all, in every breath calling us to remember that each night is holy and all life is sacred.
A Christmas Eve Prayer
Oh Child of this holy night
Born so long ago yet, present in our hearts and minds
Present in our hopes and dreams:
For ourselves – in those hidden places of anguish or broken relationships
For those we love – those suffering from despair or fear or illness
For those we glimpse but do not know – the poor, the prisoner, the enemy
For those a world away in devastation, desolation, displacement.
Oh Child of this holy night
Born so long ago yet present in our hearts and minds
We pray for our world at once broken and beautiful, fragile and flourishing, aching and whole.
Oh Child of this holy night
this is a night of holiness and hope
For souls lost and forgotten
For hearts shattered and battered
For bodies disregarded and degraded.
Oh Child of this holy night
May we this night and in the days and nights to come be reminded of the humility and peace that was expressed in your life…
May we this night and in the days and nights to come be inspired to acts of compassion and justice by the life that you lived…
May we this night and in the days and nights to come be nurtured by the gentleness and Love you came to embody…
O Child of this holy night may we know that each night is holy, all life is sacred and we, each of us, are the bearers the holy and the sacred.
O Child of this holy night, may we proclaim with our lives and loves – joy to the world.
Even while we rage against the rampant consumerism of the season, or are plunged into the dysfunction of hitherto forgotten family roles, or are lonely beyond belief, we find something of a salve in being together, in celebrating Christmas with each other. We find comfort in the warmth of family, respite from our frantic lives, joy in our service to the community.
There is something compelling about the Christmas story, even though we may not believe in a miraculous Virgin Birth and we recognize the remnant pagan roots of the many traditions of the season. We know that Jesus of Nazareth was not born on December 25, but that the date of his birth was placed near the Winter Solstice. We recognize the birth story as the story of the return of light and hope for the renewal of the earth; and while we may know the mythologies and metaphors, we are, though, nonetheless drawn into the Christian Christmas story.
Drawn into the story by virtue of our birth in western culture and, I would say, by virtue of deep truths revealed in the myths; which any oppression in the name of its founder have been unable to eradicate– we are drawn into the story. And we ask, “what child is this?”
So let us pause here at the birth story. Let us pause to consider the child. For it is the child that claims us and lures us to hope at this time of year.
What we find in the message of the Christmas story is the idea that the Sacred, the Spirit of Love, is incarnate in the world; incarnate in that most profound a symbol of new life, of possibilities, of hope – in a child.
And it is from children that we receive some of the most profound wisdom.
A few years ago while I was in Berkeley I visited my friends Lea and Billy and their, then two-year old daughter, Samantha. Samantha greeted me enthusiastically, yelling “Auntie Beth!” I was thrilled that she remembered me since I hadn’t seen her for six months. When I returned home, I had an email from Lea telling me of the family adventure of setting up the crèche for Christmas.
They set up the stable, the animals, the manger, the star. They put out the wise men, the shepherds, and Joseph and Mary. Samantha had the honor of placing the baby in the manger and as she did so she declared that it was “Baby Janice” – a little doll of color from the Groovy Girls dolls.
Lea and Billy then asked Samantha who the other people in the scene were. Samantha pointed to one of the shepherds and said that he was the father of the baby, she then pointed to the figure of Mary and declared that the mother was Auntie Beth. I was so pleased. For Samantha’s words point us to a deep truth – not that I am the mother of God! – but that the child need not be a son, the birth need not be virgin; and the message of Love is not obsolete.
Samantha’s naming of the baby “Janice” gives us the freedom to tell the story that the Spirit of Life and Love was found not only in the life of a remarkable Galilean, but is within us all.
Samantha’s renaming of mother and father suggests that we are, all of us, the mothers and fathers of the hope, beauty, and peace that the child’s birth was meant to inspire. The shepherds, the animals, the wise men, the stars, you, me; we are each of us witness to and co-creators of the hope and peace to which Love draws us.
This was not a once and only event. The incarnation of Love was the very creation of the beginning of time – it happened before the birth of Jesus, it happened then, and is happening now. It is present and active in all things and all people – at all times and everywhere.
Wherever hope abides amidst despair; wherever joy abides amidst sorrow; wherever love abides amidst hate; wherever peace is spoken amidst war; Love is happening there. This is a compelling truth of the story.
This is what the child announces to us.
In this time and this place, for us and for all beings – a love at once particular and universal draws us to a life peace and hope.
We gather to be with friends and family at Christmas to be inspired by the possibility that in a time of rampant war-making the idea of peace on earth and good will toward all may become more than a slogan, may somehow take hold. For this is the time of the year that we most dare dream of renewal and peace, most dare to hope boldly.
Let the child be a reminder of the promise of hope;
Let each star point us to the break-your-heart beauty of Life;
Let the wise men teach us that we each have gifts to bring to an aching, broken world;
Let the shepherds show us that the Divine Love is revealed to all and must be witnessed to by all;
Let us know that Love whispers to us all, in every breath calling us to remember that each night is holy and all life is sacred.
A Christmas Eve Prayer
Oh Child of this holy night
Born so long ago yet, present in our hearts and minds
Present in our hopes and dreams:
For ourselves – in those hidden places of anguish or broken relationships
For those we love – those suffering from despair or fear or illness
For those we glimpse but do not know – the poor, the prisoner, the enemy
For those a world away in devastation, desolation, displacement.
Oh Child of this holy night
Born so long ago yet present in our hearts and minds
We pray for our world at once broken and beautiful, fragile and flourishing, aching and whole.
Oh Child of this holy night
this is a night of holiness and hope
For souls lost and forgotten
For hearts shattered and battered
For bodies disregarded and degraded.
Oh Child of this holy night
May we this night and in the days and nights to come be reminded of the humility and peace that was expressed in your life…
May we this night and in the days and nights to come be inspired to acts of compassion and justice by the life that you lived…
May we this night and in the days and nights to come be nurtured by the gentleness and Love you came to embody…
O Child of this holy night may we know that each night is holy, all life is sacred and we, each of us, are the bearers the holy and the sacred.
O Child of this holy night, may we proclaim with our lives and loves – joy to the world.