New Year's Eve, 2017, Coming Toward Me

John 1: 1-18

 
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a God. 
He was in the beginning with God. 
All things came into being through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. 
In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 
And the light shines in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not [has not overcome it]. 
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 
The same came [as] for a witness, to bear witness to the light, that through him all might believe. 
He was not the light, but a witness of the light, for the true light that enlightens every man, was to come into the world. 
He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, and the world knew him not. 
He came to men as individuals but individual men received him not.           
But those who received him could reveal themselves as children of God. 
Those who trusted in his name were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 
And the Word became flesh and dwelled among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory (as) of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 
John bore witness of him and proclaimed clearly: this was he of whom I said: He will come after me who was before me, for he was the first. 
For out of his fullness have we all received grace upon grace. 
For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ. 
Hitherto no man has beheld God with his eyes. The only begotten Son (God) who was within the Father Ground of the World, he has become the leader of men into this seeing.
 
New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2017
John 1:1-18
 
Stepping across a threshold into a brightly lighted space temporarily blinds us. Overwhelmed at first, we are only painfully aware of the change. But slowly our eyes adjust. Objects begin to emerge out of the dazzling brightness. Then we can begin to navigate in this lighted space. We can begin to become active participants there.
 
In this gospel reading, we are presented at first with an overwhelming grandiosity. The Word sounds forth out of the silence, creating. A light of lightning brightness, the light of life, radiates out into the darkness. At first, we human beings are uncomprehending, dazzled perhaps by too much light. But gradually details begin to emerge. There comes a man called John who bears witness, who talks to us about what we can barely make out. He is a guide. He helps us to make sense of the overpowering brightness coming toward us from across the threshold. He helps our eyes to see by reporting to us how things are related. He

shows us that all the numerous graces of our lives, our privileges, our richness, our inner wealth, comes from this light-filled fullness beyond. He encourages us to look around at this light-filled space. And to notice that once inside it, there will be a guide. That once we cross over into the realm of light, the One who created the light will guide us in apprehending what we see. Under His leadership, we will navigate the space. With His help, we will find our place and our task. For the Creator Spirit is also the Revealer. As we cross the threshold into a new time, we can say:
 
The hour is striking so close above me,
so clear and sharp,
that all my senses ring with it.
I feel it now: there’s a power in me
to grasp and give shape to my world.
 
I know that nothing has ever been real
without my beholding it.
All becoming has needed me.
My looking ripens things
and they come toward me, to meet and be met.*
 
Yea, so be it.
* Rilke’s Book of Hours, Macy and Barrows, page 47

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