I have been playing with being sick for
the last couple of days. I made a bunch of visits on Monday and on
Tuesday morning as I staggered to workout I started to cough- a
little. One of the people who uses one of the elliptical machines
close to where I work out is undergoing chemo so I decided to cut
back the visits because I may have been given a gift of a “bug”
that I did not want to share with everyone else. I huddled in my
office and coughed -a lot. By 2:00 in the afternoon I was hacking and
went home for some rest. At the vestry meeting that evening I sat six
feet away from the others and on my way home was a danger to myself
and others in driving because of some over the counter medication.
They really do mean it when they say we should not operte heavy
machinery! I stayed home on Wednesday with no relief and then got
drugs from a Dr's visit on Thursday. I think I am getting better and
should be able to do the services on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
We only discover the weakness of our
own humanity when our agendas are thwarted and we come to the limits
of our strength. Left to my own strength I am a pitiable creatures
and when I reach a dead end I realize I need a power greater than
ourselves. It is appropriate it is December.
While the birth of Jesus probably did not happen in
December- the shepherds would not have been in a field watching their
flocks by night later than September – December or even January
seems to fit that barren time when we need some incarnation. Yet
incarnation is a spiritual event beyond merely an historical event in
a land far away in a time long ago.
Bear with me, this is my segue into
thinking about the symbol of the Incarnation for the coming Christmas
Day, the Christmas Season, indeed for all seasons. We live into, and
claim, Incarnation whenever we allow God's love to come into our
lives- where the “word becomes flesh” and our flesh is filled
with God's Holy Spirit.
I love the Christmas pagents and all that, I
tear up in nostalgia for the season, but I think I am able to really
know the incarnation when I see the love and strength sharing among
people when the services are not going on. When I see a family decide
to try forgiveness instead of being right; that is incarnation. When
I see a couple hold hands and breathe deeply of the breath of a power
greater than themselves in order to get through the mess they made of
their lives; that is incarnation. When a see a person stop thinking
about the presents and starting living in the presence: that is
incarnation.
I tend to see things as symbols and not
mere signs; signs just point to something but symbol does not just
point to something but it participates in that to which it refers.
The Christ mass happens not only in churches but in homes, in
shelters, in offices; wherever 2 or 3 are gathered together comiung
to ask for strength to make it throught the day with integrity.
There is a prayer I have used for the
last couple mornings, and I recommend it, from the Book of Common
Prayer on page 461: In
the Morning
This
is another day, O Lord. I know not what it will bring
forth,
but make me ready, Lord, for whatever it may be. If I
am
to stand up, help me to stand bravely. If I am to sit still,
help
me to sit quietly. If I am to lie low, help me to do it
patiently.
And if I am to do nothing, let me do it gallantly.
Make
these words more than words, and give me the Spirit
of
Jesus. Amen.
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