Christmas - The Answer to the Riddles

 

God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

1 Corinthians 1:28-29

Christmas can be so commercialized and focused on the gifts and the selfish wants. The emphasis is so engrained in us we barely notice it. Something missing is the humility and joy of simplicity of Christmas. We may have in our minds the scene  - a neatly tucked baby in a bed of hay. Gentle goats and sheep surrounding the bed. Mary calm and peaceful. Joseph standing assertively, watching keenly. Whether Jesus was in a bed of hay or a blow up air mattress, it was a humble beginning.

That is the point.

There is more joy to be had in the simple, humble things of life. It does not need to be filled with frills and luxury. Yet we have made that an essential piece, and it tends to make things more complicated. Our earthly perspective has done so. Jesus shows us our views are quite tilted, in fact, upside down from that of the heavenly realm. What we deem important in this earthly life is sometimes not what matters eternally. There is something deeper He wants us to see, but we have to be willing to clear our vision of the worldly things and the hold they have on us.

It is difficult to clear our vision because we know the story so well.

Let's look at an alternate view to freshen our Christmas views - Merry Christmas!

The Man Born to be King, by Dorothy L. Sayers
Play-cycle Published 1943

Caspar: Alas! the more we know, the less we understand life. Doubts make us afraid to act, and much learning dries the heart. And the riddle that torments the world is this: Shall Wisdom and Love live together at last, when the promised Kingdom comes?

Melchior: We are rulers, and we see that what men need most is good government, with freedom and order. But order puts fetters on freedom, and freedom rebels against order, so that love and power are always at war together. And the riddle that torments the world is this: Shall Power and Love dwell together at last, when the promised Kingdom comes?

Balthazar: I speak for a sorrowful people - for the ignorant and the poor. We rise up to labour and lie down to sleep, and night is only a pause between one burden and another. Fear is our daily companion - the fear of want, the fear of war, the fear of cruel death, and of still more cruel life. But all this we could bear if we knew that we did not suffer in vain; that God was beside us in the struggle, sharing the miseries of His own world. For the riddle that torments the world is this: Shall Sorrow and Love be reconciled at last, when the promised Kingdom comes?

Mary: These are very difficult questions - but with me, you see, it is like this. When the Angel's message came to me, the Lord put a song in my heart. I suddenly saw that wealth and cleverness were nothing to God - no one is too unimportant to be His friend. That was the thought that came to me, because of the thing that happened to me. I am quite humbly born, yet the Power of God came upon me; very foolish and unlearned, yet the Word of God was spoken to me; and I was in deep distress, when by Baby was born and filled my life with love. So I know very well that Wisdom and Power and Sorrow can live together with Love; and for me, the Child in my arms is the answer to all the riddles.

On Discipleship

 

Why is discipleship important?

- We do not know it all

- We forget what we think we know

- We have blind spots in our modernity (read the old books!)

- We have the power to influence and encourage others to grow

Therefore, we always need to be learning, studying, growing, and following what it means to be walking along the path of our lives with Christ.

Christ calls us, not to go with the flow of the world and conform to its ways, as it shifts in culture, but instead Christ calls us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, and to be counter-cultural in living a paradox of the Christian life, different from what the world says we should be.

Blessed are the poor in spirit...
Blessed are the meek...
Blessed are the pure in heart...
Blessed are the merciful...
Blessed are those persecuted for righteousness sake... 
Etc...
(Matthew 5)

If we are living according to this world, we are missing a very essential piece - we are putting a veil over our eyes to the heavenly, and becoming fixed on the earthly.

Jesus says in John 3.12 - 
If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

Jesus, then, is seeking to remove the film of familiarity and selfish solicitude, to borrow phrases from poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, to reveal the deep heavenly truths that are covered up by the things we get so comfortable with on earth. These comforts cause a spiritual laziness.

Why is this important, though?

Since the Enlightenment, our world has been seeking to separate all the imaginative creative ways of viewing the world and the heavenly realm from all the real serious studies of science and intellect. This bifurcation is false, but so much of what is taught and studied focuses only on the intellect:

    Step 1 - Do this
    Step 2 - Follow that
    Step 3 - Solution is proved

The problem:

It lacks any mystery.

It lacks a study of beauty in the godly sense.

It misses the imagination.

It leaves no room for questions and musings.

That is where I feel the role of discipleship can come in. If we are to grow and encourage others with Christ in the transformation and renewal of the mind --

The mind includes - 
    Intellect and Imagination

This is not either/or but a both/and.

G.K. Chesterton wrote -
We need to be happy in this wonderland without once being merely comfortable.

I see discipleship as an opportunity to encourage others to explore in deeper ways, to step out of ones own views and into the eyes of other older wisdom that has much to share. To embrace an active imaginative life, picturesque and full of poetical curiosity, something humans seem to desire.

In this and every Advent season, let us embrace the imagination to see the story of the birth of Jesus with new eyes. As if going on a journey and coming around the world to the same place but with a whole new set of eyes as if seeing the story for the first time.

Tales of Christmas

 

There seems a magic in the very name of Christmas....Would that Christmas lasted the whole year through, and that the prejudices and passions which deform our better nature were never called into action among those to whom, at least, they should ever be strangers.

"Christmas Festivities" by Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens is synonymous in everyone's mind with the tale of A Christmas Carol, but he also wrote other tales of ghostly Christmas explorations and inter-relationships amongst people with themes of morals, want and greed, human feelings amidst suffering. If one considers the time period in which he wrote (London in the 1840s) when the moral and ethical views of a culture had slid sideways into a selfish indulgence seeking independence of self and enlightenment from the religious views, the idea of selfless giving and the spirit of Christmas was not a widespread acceptable notion of the time. Dickens's writing are important because they introduce such ideas and stories that foster a change in the human spirit, which has continued through generations to us today.

I have been curling up with Dickens each night to explore this world he creates in his stories, mixing paradox, delight, terror, and deception set in a rather dreary reality in order to (in his words) "awaken some loving and forbearing thoughts, never out of season in a Christian land."

There is something about Christmas time that opens our hearts to the lives of others - but it all moves by so swiftly and we sometimes miss the chance to truly embrace why we celebrate it. We attend events, concerts, meetings, parties, dinners. We exchange gifts with friends, family, and give to other in various ways in the community. Often in our modern times we are so consumed with activity we rarely have time to actually ponder the meaning and beauty of the Advent season and then it's gone and a whole new year quickly takes over with getting back to it.

I am no expert in this practice, but I am trying to embrace a slower season, looking into the deeper meaning of the aspects of Christmas we tend to gloss over. Reading good books that offer wisdom far greater than my own is what helps me get into the true spirit of Christmas. Sure, there are other ways to get into the commercial spirit - you know - shopping for gifts, wrapping gifts, and listening to Christmas music. While those things help me think of others and let me recall a favourite tune to hum they are not generally reaching into that deep spot in the soul in need of the truths offered by the gift of Jesus. That is where the true soul shaping and deep meaning takes root and establishes its place of residence, so the spirit of Christmas never does go out of season. 

Southern Savannah Autumn / Winter

I travelled north, to the south. Can one travel in a paradox?

Southern Savannah - Strolling the sun-dappled sweet streets oozing with southern charm on the days betwixt Autumn and Winter was pure delight. The leaf-laden sidewalks lead me to all the places I needed on a short holiday - to coffee shops and bookshops. What else is necessary? Okay, restaurants/cafes as well. I will grant you that - and good food is to be found. It all felt like magic to me. Something about getting away, especially in these last two years, has felt like a pure treat. A treasure to behold. I love being home, but I also love travelling. It is the double-sided coin for me.

Though all these places are familiar to me, and have seen my presence in the last year, I still felt a keen sense of wonder, as if seeing it all for the first time. Mum of course, hadn't been to Savannah to explore in many many years. We could not really remember when it was, and these places we went were not on the agenda back then. We had a most luxuriously leisurely Thanksgiving dinner at the hotel restaurant, the 1540 Room, which we would recommend. Delicious food prepared by the new chef there. I got to eat at my favourite vegan restaurant, The Fox & Fig, and have coffee at my favourite coffee shop, Mirabelle. Best of all, I got to do some book shopping at both E. Shaver's Booksellers and The Book Lady Bookstore. All the while, walking to each place along the Autumnal verging into Winter (and Christmas decorations!) squares and historic streets.

The mornings were cold, around 37 - 40 degrees. And I was all giddy to have a taste of Winter (to me) whilst gazing admirably at the multi-hued leaves hanging loftily from many trees, with some piles of leafy colour on the ground. It was a lovely mixture of Autumn and Winter holding hands in the same days. I love the display of seasons. I love the way nature shines with all the beauty it is given, as God created it all with flourish of imagination. It is just being itself, and it is glorious. And a wonder-filled way to begin the holiday season, with the start of Advent.

Autumn Bordering Winter

 

Autumn Bordering Winter

Oh let them fall
All the leaves all
Falling, papery thin
Hues of myriad I saw
Whilst in a state of awe
I watch them fall
With a half-floating tilt
They tip their tiny hats
As they gracefully glide
For a wistful moment, slide,
Slice, and saw, through air.

A nature show for all
That display of beauty in colour
Short-lived and transient
Soothing a salty temperament
As reminders of a seasonal glow
Worth lingering moments to know
Such secrets of nature, a clear call
To gather every one and all
To a conference of the leaves
Before bordering winter as it may please
Comes swiftly like a wind
Can we see it all again? 
Once the dancing leaves fall
They do not look back at all.

Special thanks to the leaves of Savannah, Georgia this last week for their display of beauty and colour. To allow my feet to shuffle amidst them and see their late season glory. It was a gift to my Autumn loving, chilly weather needing soul.