Parakalein

   

I imagine the God of love and peace awaiting this first advent.  Since the beginning of time, which God began and marks, God knew the day would come that it would be time, to send his son into the world made for and of God.

He knew as Paul comments in one of his letter that the time was just right.  “In the fullness of time, God sent his son”.  In the fullness of time, at the exact right moment God is present in every moment with love and peace.  God offers us the way to give our hearts rest and peace.  God orders the world to acts of love and kindness.

We forget that every moment is pregnant with the presence of God’s love, every situation is made better when looked at through the lens of peace and love, and all the world will become a better place when we all see "the way of grace" and embrace that way as the way of life.  It is the Jesus way that is bigger and broader than any ecclesiastical way. 

It is the Jesus Way that is the Way of and to heaven.  It is not about church or religion it is about relationship and relatedness. 

That is the message of Christmas.  It is not about Christmas. It is about the love that produced Christmas That love is in all of us regardless.

I heard of a woman in Bethlehem, PA who is attempting to form a museum of nativities from all over the world.  She collected them from many nations and tribes of people all over the world.   Over the years she has stored them in her home and now wants to create a museum of Nativities.  At 71 she wants to leave a legacy.  The interesting thing is she said she does not believe in Christ or Christmas but just likes the nativity scene, loves babies, and so has collected them from everywhere. 

That is the true Spirit of Christmas:  seeing the beauty and message of the baby of love laid in a bed of hay so that all may lay their head in the lap of God’s love.