Holy
Nights
John
1: 1-18
In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a God.
This
was in the beginning with God.
Everything
came into being through the Word, and without it was not anything made that was
made.
In
the Word was life, and the life was the light of humankind.
And
the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There
was a man sent from God whose name was John.
He
came as a witness, to bear witness to the light, so that through him all may find
faith. He was not the light, but a witness to the light, for the true light
that enlightens every human being was coming into the world. It was in the
world, and the world came into being through it, but the world had not
recognized it.
Into
those who had recognized it the light had come, but those individuals did not
take it in. But all who did take it in received authority to become children of
God. Those who trusted in its name are born, not of blood, nor of the will of
the flesh, nor of the will of the human beings, but are born of God.
And
the Word became flesh and dwelt among (in) us.
And
we beheld its revelation, the revelation of the only begotten son of the
Father, full of grace and truth.
John
bore witness to Him and cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘After
me comes one who was before me, for he is the very first’.” For out of his
fullness we have received grace upon grace. For the law was given through
Moses, but grace and truth have come about through Jesus Christ.
Until
now human senses never beheld God. The only begotten Son, who was within the
Father, has become the guide to this beholding.[1]
New Year’s Day
John 1: 1 – 18
It is cold midwinter. The end of last year’s growth, the
seeds, lie in the dark earth. Yet, if we only had the proper eyes, we could
begin to see tiny flames flickering in and around them. For although it will
take some time to manifest, new life is already beginning to quicken in the
womb of Mother Earth. The seeds that will become the flowers and the grain of our
food are already beginning to shine.
The impulse for this change comes from the divine world,
from the world of the great beings who form the archetypes of all that lives.
They generate, grow and ripen in the heart and mind of God. Eventually these
archetypes make their way earthward. And just in this midwinter season, now the
living beings of the plants are sending their living forms all the way down
into the mineral world, to awaken last year’s seeds into this years’ plants.
In human souls, too, the same process is taking place.
During the Holy Nights, the soul, with all the seeds of its past and future,
awaits its impregnation. Into human hearts, new forces and impulses for life
are streaming downward, as Christ, the archetype of the Divine Human Being,
once more enters the realm of earth. With Him He brings His father’s Light, His
Father’s life, His Father’s love.
Through God’s grace during these Holy Days and Nights, we
have the opportunity to begin life anew. The soul is encouraged to become a
womb to receive the Father’s light. It is encouraged to generate the flames of
the Father’s eternal life. It is encouraged to give birth to the Father’s love.
Three flames—the flame of the light of truth in our thinking, the flame of life’s
beauty in our feeling, the flame of love’s offering in our will, are beginning
to shine forth in us. May they grow and mature. May they become the truth of
spirit-sun, the beauty of spirit-flowers, the goodness of spirit-grain. May
they pour forth from our hearts, out into all the world.
For, as St. Francis said,
There are beautiful wild forces
within us.
Let them turn the mills inside,
and fill
sacks
that feed even
heaven.[1]
www.thechristiancommunity.org
[1]
St. Francis of Assisi ,
“Wild Forces”, in Love Poems from God,
Daniel Ladinsky, p. 47.
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