I enjoy the Christmas season
and when I discovered the liturgical season of Advent as an adult, that sacred
time of waiting gave the season even more meaning for me. At the same time, I realize
that there are many who have difficulty participating in the festive season.
Some have painful memories from the past; some have been hardened by life and
cannot make their way back to hope. Others have either lost faith, were
nurtured in a different faith, or were raised without a strong faith tradition.
My hope is that everyone can find
reason to celebrate the season and that we all can have hope for the days
ahead. The following essay is one that was first posted in December of 2010. It
was first written and presented at the request of Rev. Karen Matteson, a
Unitarian Minister. She wanted me to take part in a Sunday morning service in
preparation for Christmas. Many in that Unitarian congregation felt that it was
very important to have a big Christmas Eve celebration. Others had a problem
with Christmas because they came from different backgrounds, and most had a
problem with affirming the divinity of Christ. The minister wanted to have a
service to help bring everyone in to the celebration of the season while
acknowledging the different places that many were coming from. "Finding
Christmas" was my contribution to that service which I was honored to take
part in.
Finding Christmas: A
Post-modern Christian Revisits an Ancient Holiday
by Charles Kinnaird
"In the depth of winter, I finally
learned that within me
there lay an invincible summer."
~Albert Camus
In the Jesus story, the Gospel writer at one
point has the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, asking the question, "What
am I to do with Jesus?" It is fascinating to me that from that time until
this, most of us in Western Civilization have had to ask that very question and
in some way respond to the question. When I was in high school, there were two
Broadway musicals, Godspell, and Jesus Christ, Superstar,
that represented one way that my generation was responding to the question of
what to do with Jesus. Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel, Handel's Messiah,
Zulu Zionism in South Africa, Base Communities in Latin America, and the Jesus
Seminar in Santa Rosa, CA, represent a few of the many varied responses to the
same question.
In my own journey,
I am always re-evaluating and redefining. I took a computer course once where
we were working with spreadsheets. I loved the visual effect of having the
spreadsheet all laid out, then typing in another number and watching the whole
screen change in response to the new data. A living philosophy has to be that
way. When we are confronted with new information or new experiences, our
perspective will change in some way. There may even be a shift in our world
view.
The Risk of Incarnation
A few years ago, I
was attending a Eucharistic service at an Episcopal Church (some traditions
refer to it as Mass, or Holy Communion). It was at a time when I was
re-assessing what the Christian myth meant to me, given my world view. It
occurred to me that however the person of Jesus fits (or does not fit) into
one's theology, the Jesus Story dramatically illustrates the risk of
incarnation. It was an emotional moment and I immediately connected with that
notion because I knew first-hand the risk of incarnation.
In my work as a
registered nurse, I often have to ask patients to sign a consent form for the
surgeon to operate. I always ask the patient "Has the doctor explained to
you the risks and the benefits of this procedure?" If the patient answers
affirmatively, then I know that he or she is ready to sign the consent form.
That day during the Eucharist, I knew that as I drank from the cup, I was
affirming my own participation in the risk of incarnation. Knowing the beauty
of being alive, I was also fully aware of the risk.
Celebrating the Light
Christmas is about light and life. It is a celebration in the
middle of winter that the light will come and the darkness will end. It is a
celebration of the promise of new life beginning. We call it Christmas, a time
when Christians celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus as the incarnation of God
and a light to the world.
The celebration
existed, however, long before the Christians took it over. Winter Solstice had
long been a time to celebrate the dawn on the darkness of winter. It was a time
to extol the evergreen that proclaimed the promise of life in the dead of
winter.
Christmas for us
can be a time to celebrate the joy and beauty of incarnation as we know it. If
we have lived long enough, we understand the risk, but we also know from our
collective experience that the darkness will end. We sense the persistent hope
of new life. We know that life on this planet is worth the risk. We can use the
Christmas season to acknowledge our own participation in the incarnation of
Life.
Our light has
come.
Our day has
dawned.
We can joyfully
celebrate
Life is up to
something,
and we are included!
Life is full of
surprises,
and
we are a part of it!
-
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