Well, here is what it was like with the family last night. Santa brought together those of us who share my mother's genetic code through fancy outfits made for slumbering. If I attempt to give you the entire story you might be sleeping by the time it is finished. So in brief, it goes something like this: My Mom's name is Darlene and true to stereotypical form there is creative tension between her and my brother-in-law. Those of us related to her have at various times been systematically assigned a number in relation to her primary number, "One." Through this scrutiny we are known as "D-1," "D-2,""D-3," etc. Lucky for us Santa and my brother-in-law have a close connection and we now have matching apparel with a Dr. Seuss theme that replaces "D" with "Thing." I am not sure which is worse...or better...but I know that it was hard to stop laughing for the picture. Thanks Santa for your thoughtfulness!
On to a brighter and more central theme for our time together. We are celebrating today the gift of God irrupting into the world. What a great thing to share! Last night I went to mass with my nephew (that would be Thing 5 in the picture), and it was delightful to share the experience with him. We had a conversation in the car about Jesus being human and divine. These mysteries leave me speechless most days and I am grateful that once again I was invited to think about my faith in Jesus Christ. I then made an attempt to articulate what it means to believe in the birth of someone who is both fully human and fully divine. As I write I am curious how some of you celebrated today and how your faith is influenced by Emmanuel-God with us? So, please write and share.
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ReplyDeleteAs I reflect on Emmanuel I move in the direction of watching the wonder of a child. My niece, Makenna brought the joy of the season to me. She is about seven months old and her eyes moved to every person both in the church and as we gathered around the Christmas tree. I do believe that Jesus looks at each of us and takes in each person lovingly. The directions of my life continues to be to move in trust and love. And that was and is my thought during this season. I believe this is the season of relationship and that means we move and have our being because God is truly with us. For me it is not just a feeling but also that God dwells within each of us. We are the stable where God takes up life and Emmanual does mean God with us and God within us. When we become totally humanly we come closer to not only the image of God, but also taking on the Christ image totally in us. I have been reading a book about the immergent Christ and the writer moves to the God of the future and to me that is a new view of what the birth of Christ means in the present and the future. I continue to think of how I develop loving, compassionate relationship and that's me being reborn over and over again.
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