A Christmas Thought

So what is the Christmas story? Let's think about the well known details for a moment: a baby, born in a stable, to a virgin, visited by shepherds and wisemen or magi or kings who follow a special star, surrounded by angels, and destined to be the Saviour of the world. Myth? Fantasy? Wonderful "story" but "just a story"? I like to think about the meaning of the story and that is simply that we are loved by God, that God enters our world to be with us and to care for us. We are gifted, graced and blessed by the presence of God and the Christmas story tells us that by means of symbol, and every detail does not have to be taken literally. Joseph Campbell tells us that all religions speak in metaphor and symbol but also that all religions sometimes mistake the symbols for the realities themselves. So, when it comes to differences in religion, what is it that we have to "fight" about? Is our story better than your story? is our myth better than your myth? is our truth better than your truth? Or are we all celebrating the same reality, the same Mystery? the same truth?

It's Happening Again

The feeling of Christmas: what is it for you? how is it found for you? when does it come? For me the first feeling associated with Christmas usually comes around the first of December with a "Bah, humbug, do we have to go through all this again??!" Then the details gradually get taken care of - the cards get mailed; the out of town presents get bought, mailed and wrapped; the dinner gets planned; the tree gets trimmed and it happens again: positive feelings begin to take over. For me, this usually happens with the trimming of the tree as I listen to Christmas music. The beautiful sentiments of the Christmas carols usher in a time of nostalgia and reflection.

December: Darkness and Light

Yesterday afternoon we were driving back from a trip to the city and we were treated to a clearing sky and a most spectacular sunset as we travelled west. The time was about 4:30pm. I found myself pondering December's early evening darkness as we near the winter solstice, this year in North America on December 21st. The winter solstice is often called "the shortest day of the year" in the Northern hemisphere for it is the day of least daylight and earliest sunset. The winter solstice has long been considered a special time and major festivals including Christmas and Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights, are celebrated near this date. In pre-Christian times the winter solstice was a time of magic, and many customs and traditions of today go back to that time. For Christians, the four weeks prior to Christmas are called Advent, and are often marked by the lighting of candles in an Advent wreath. Whether one is religious or not, this is the time of year for Christmas lights. Yesterday, we stopped for supper and arrived home to our neighbourhood, now lit by many Christmas light displays, some quite elaborate. It seemed not only joyful and anticipatory, but somehow, too, brave and magical.

Favourite Quotations

Do you have a favourite quotation, perhaps a motto that guides your life? I don't think I could pick one favourite as I have dozens that I like and that are very meaningful to me. In fact, I have the habit of writing my favourites in small books and I've been collecting them for years. Perusing one of my books I see that little adages from Ann Landers such as "when life hands you a lemon, make lemonade," appeal to me. More profoundly, certain Scripture verses are dear to me. This one from the Old Testament kind of says it all and provides a guide for living as a pilgrim on the journey: "And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8). Speaking of kindness there are other lovely quotations. The first sentence of the "Sam Te Ching," a Chinese children's classic says, "We are born into this world with a kind nature." And a lovely quotation from Dr. Theodore Rubin reminds me that "kindness is more important than wisdom and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom." Then there was the famous line by Blanche Du Bois in "A Streetcar Named Desire" - "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." I've often thought that along the way we all must "depend on the kindness of strangers," from time to time. Great line, isn't it?