Salvation is theosis, and is the destiny for one and all. This is what the Star says.
Of course, this destiny -- as with all Divine Gifts -- can be refused. It can even be denounced.
The Cross is for sin. The Manger is for deification.
The Son of God is the Son of Man. That little sentence contains everything.
There is not one positive thing said about the rich in the Bible. Maybe neutral, at best. But certainly not positive.
Only the poor can understand Christmas.
Only the poor in spirit can enter into Christmas.
Animals, especially dogs, understand Christmas better than the cynic, the agnostic and especially the frenetic. Just ask the ox and ass.
Christmas is never noticed by popular, or academic, history. It is always legendary, mythic, mystic and true.
Prayer and belief converge in Natal star-gazing.
It may not be necessary to believe in the factuality of the Protevangelion, but it is less necessary to disbelieve it.
The Magnificat is a cosmic political statement that usually gets censored.
Christmas, as with all Feasts, force a renunciation of all political banners. The Biblical witness requires an acceptance of the miraculous, but also the critique of the powers and principalities. Fundamentalists and liberals are rendered mute as Zacharias.
The Suffering Servant is the King of Glory, the Child born unto us, the Son given unto us, upon Whose back the iniquities of us all were laid, and upon Whose shoulders the true and only Government is lain.
Cynicism is a rejection of any feast, especially the Nativity Feast.
There is no aristocracy at a Christmas table.
The ghosts of Christmas past, present and future are welcome at the wassail.
Christmas is best done by kindness to the small. It is a Feast of Meekness, and Divine Kindness that is hidden in twilight and silent mystery. So you'd better feed the animals and find a poor man to help. Then learn how to cheer in the old ways. Be humble. Surrender your bitter pride and pet despondencies. Sing. Drink. Feast. Build a roaring fire in the hearth. Be human again, so that in your authentic nature you can sense the Son of Man.
There is no economic theory at the Christian Table.
Beware Herod, who (like Grendel) cannot stand the singing: he represents the passions of a darkened soul, and the cold doldrums of a Phoenician world.
Advent calls you to seek the Christ-Child with longing, as did the prophets David and Isaiah and the minors. Something was wrong, terribly wrong: they felt it, and longed for One to make things right. What was this rightness, this righteousness, they hungered for? Figure this out, and you'll be happy on Christmas Day.
Wear the right wedding garment at all Christian feasts, for every single one is nuptial. Mis-clothed, or un-clothed, at the Nativity, means that one did not attend to the preparations, that one is self-absorbed, judgmental, bitter, unfasted, unshriven, unprayed.
Decorate yourself with light.
The paragraph that begins "Christmas is best done by kindness to the small..." is a keeper. Poetic and stirring.
Posted by: Bill M | December 09, 2011 at 12:26 PM
A beautiful reflection. God's blessings to you and your family during this most Holy of seasons!
Posted by: David | December 15, 2011 at 11:04 AM