As we approach
Christmas, I have tried to write down my thoughts...
We've
had a rough year, haven't we? One that could cause our hearts to sink
or make us cry
our eyes out. Evil, with its tedious slash-and-burn methods,
is out there.
But what I know this year is that I have been all the more drawn
toward
bedrock belief in the goodness of God. I somehow do not feel at all
discouraged but
evermore sure that God's love is stronger than
all that is
tirelessly arrayed against it. He can carry us through
anything.
We only have
to see, with the eyes of our heart, who our good God is--full of
Light and
Life, His nail pierced Hands dripping with compassion and love. Evil's victories
are short
lived. We have been tricked into thinking that bad is stronger than good because it uses
a hacker's force to accomplish its goals. God's ways are subtle,
gentle, awe-inspiring and unexpected. The results of evil we see daily with our
natural eyes, but may we learn to see how present the love and goodness of God is with the
eyes of our hearts. Love and Goodness, God Himself, working through His
people, is all around
us. And if we dare to join His ranks, we shall see Him all the more.
2000 years ago
a small package of God arrived on earth's doorstep. It was
such a small
package. Wrapped in a bits of swaddling cloth. God made the announcement of His
Son's coming not to the rich and famous, but to shepherds and star gazers,
both of whom had
time to look for the hidden and subtle, and the vast and deep.
The little
package, from His very first moment a divine Pilgrim, at home only
in the Father's
love, and in the arms of sweet mother Mary. His little Head never rested on
pillowy satins, and His first night wasn't even inside the hotel, but out in the
way back with the animal servants.
Goodness is
always a threat and so, even after that, He could not find a place to
rest--Foxes have
dens and sparrows have nests but the Son of God never had a lasting place to lay
His Head. He came unto those who were called to be His own but His own
received Him not. He, who is our Eternal Home, was cast out to be received only by those
who could see His Beautiful Goodness. Even those who simply looked like Him were
murdered--little children killed by Herod hoping to extinguish Jesus among
them, holy
innocents caught up in the battle. To this day those who look like Him are
murdered but their true
eternal life is not taken, nor can it be.
Our year has
been like that, hasn't it? Holy Innocents have again been slain. Yet, I believe more
firmly in God's goodness and in the power of Goodness than I ever have for I see it
coming to life in those around me who have given themselves to Goodness --God acting
through His Own in acts of light, small and large, seen and unseen. God's goodness seen
in kind smiles, in small gestures, in young teachers throwing themselves in front of
bullets to protect their children, in one small hand reaching out to hold
another's
in the night.
What can we do
when darkness is all around? We can simply choose goodness.
Love and
goodness are something to give one's life to, for they are what God is. God,
with love and
goodness, made the world and by that love and goodness the world will one
Day once again
be made a safe and glorious dwelling place--have no doubt about that! Love and
goodness are quiet yet exceedingly powerful.
Good overcomes
evil by what it is-- it vanquishes darkness by simply being light. There is no
clash of two brute
forces in this battle because this war is not waged that way. Love is another
kind of force entirely, and
does things in its own amazing way. Vengeance belongs only to the Lord, who
will end our battle with evil with a proper show of the majestic force of
Love at the End of Days. All that is God's--goodness alone is His Little
Flock's wisest choice. Darkness knows its time is limited so it will do all that
it knows to do, within its
darkened self, to accomplish its purposes.
Jesus said,
"the eye is the lamp of the body, and if your lamp is dark, how great a darkness that
is" (Matthew 6:22-23). In JRR Tolkien's, The Hobbit, the shriveled
Gollum lives in that
darkness and eats of the dark forces of greed, jealousy, and lust for power. The
light in his lamp has
gone out, as it will for everyone who partakes of darkness. Conversely, the
simple, everyday hobbit
from Bag End may feel that he is no match for that which lays in the darkness.
Yet, what we
must realize is that everyday hobbits, you and I, are on a great adventure
toward God--and we can
and will be victorious by God's goodness! Let us march into His
triumphant goodness and
toward Light so pure that darkness has no chance. We are small, just like the
small package that came to earth so many years ago, but we are God's small package if we
so choose to be!
How clearly
do I see this today! How clearly do I see that it all begins simply with our
choice and the direction we
point ourselves in. God takes it from there! In our selves we have no goodness or strength or
courage but when we allow the Small Package of Christ, (who is eternally without
measure) to enter our lives He brings with it all the goodness of God packed
into something the size of a
mustard seed and it begins to explode within us--into a Package whose height and
depth and length we will never fully exhaust or explore! A great journey indeed
begins!
Dear ones, during this timely Christmas,
trust in the
goodness of God...but do more than that--give yourself over to it.
This great old
hymn, I heard the Bells on Christmas Day, speaks of a great and present truth:
I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar
carols play;
In music sweet their tones repeat,
“There’s peace on earth,
good will to men.”
I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all
Christendom
Had rolled along th’ unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good
will to men.
But in despair I bowed my head,
There is no peace on earth I said,
for hate is strong and mocks the song
of peace on earth, good will to men.
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“GOD IS NOT DEAD NOR DOES HE SLEEP"
For Christ is here; His Spirit
near
Brings peace on earth, good will to men.”
When men repent and turn from sin
The Prince of Peace then enters
in,
And grace imparts within their hearts
His peace on earth, good will to
men.
O souls amid earth’s busy strife,
The Word of God is light and
life;
Oh, hear His voice, make Him your choice,
Hail peace on earth, good
will to men.
Then happy, singing on your way,
Your world will change from night to
day;
Your heart will feel the message real,
Of peace on earth, good will
to men.
Merry Christmas, good friends,
Rose-Marie
the hymn was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
during a time of great loss during the Civil War, there
are many variations to the lyrics.
