Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Christmas Is Here

Christmas is here. I know this because I woke up to a "Merry Christmas!" text from someone I love, followed shortly by a similarly sweet text from my mom.

Christmas is here. In morning prayer, I read from Isaiah chapter 9, which contains prophecies about Christ's coming, as well as from St.Luke chapter 2, which actually gives an account of the Nativity.

Christmas is here. My fasting and abstinence from certain foods is over, and I am enjoying a cup of tea.

Christmas is here. Facebook is buzzing with every different Christmas status and photo one could imagine.

How do you know Christmas is here? What does Christmas really mean? The signs--if we could call them that for a moment--in my life that say "Christmas is here!" are good things, and they certainly do signify something. The externals point nicely to the reality, that December 25th has come, that stores are closed (thank goodness) for this holiday, that my fasting has come to an end and my Scripture readings are appropriately themed.

I propose that there are better signs than these, to show that Christmas really is here.

The Light Himself dwells among us. He enlightens us, showing us how we ought to live and why, guiding us through hard times, inspiring us to do good even when darkness threatens. The Light of the world has come: "the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them he gave power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God"(St. John 1:9-13). Indeed, the people walking in darkness have seen a great light (Isaiah 9:2).


Love has come into the world. We who believe in Christ are part of his Kingdom, which is a kingdom of love. And Christ gives us not just the example of love, but the power to love. We learn from the examples of the saints, the major figures in Scripture, and those we know who have lived a life marked by Love. How can they love so much, and so well? They can be different in every respect--in nationality, in gender, in wealth or means, in vocation, in age, in background and experiences, in talent, in renown--and yet they share Love as the distinguishing characteristic of their lives.

Truth is incarnate. Christ is the way, the truth, and the life; and in Him do justice and mercy, righteousness and peace, abide together. The truth of salvation has been brought--more than a mere set of teachings, but a new life. C.S. Lewis describes the transformation which comes from recognizing the Truth of the faith thus: “[To have Faith in Christ] means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in saying you trusted a person if you would not take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. But trying in a new way, a less worried way. Not doing these things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already. Not hoping to get to Heaven as a reward for your actions, but inevitably wanting to act in a certain way because a first faint gleam of Heaven is already inside you.” We can only see Truth by beginning to undergo this transformation. Truth is incarnate, and not to be feared. Indeed, I have been working hard in the past months to remember that all truth is God's truth, and thus it ought not to be feared but fervently sought.


We live a new Life. Christ is the Life of us all, coming to a place of death and darkness and bringing new life. We might be tempted to despair at times, when we do not seem to see much except death and darkness. The world has, in a way, not changed all at once into the new, peaceful Life. Some things--quite formidable things--are still to be endured and overcome in each of our lives. But in another--and infinitely bigger--sense, the world has indeed changed all the way for the Good. We are "already finished works-in-progress," and so is the world we live in. The new Life has come and worked through everything, and we are witnessing that. Redemption is a present reality. Indeed, we cannot celebrate Christmas without thinking ahead to the work done at Easter. Christmas is the incredible seed, planted for the fruit of redemption borne through Easter.

Christmas is here. Light, Love, Truth, and Life are here. Look for them, and I pray that they become apparent to you through this season.

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