Holy Nights January 3, 2020 God Pours Light

 

Holy Nights

Luke 2:25–35, 39–40

And see, there was in Jerusalem a man named Simeon. He was devout, entirely dedicated to the 

Good, and lived in expectation of him who was to bring the consolation of the Spirit to the people of God. The Holy Spirit was upon him, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, it had been revealed to him that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. Inspired by the Spirit, he went into the Temple court, just as the parents brought in the child to fulfill for him the custom of the Law. And Simeon took the child in his arms, praising the divine Ground of the World, 

and said:

de Gelder

Now you dismiss your servant in peace, O Master, according to your word.

For my eyes have seen your healing deed,

which you have prepared before all peoples:

A light that leads the peoples of the world to revelation and makes your own people shine in the Spirit.

And his father and mother were amazed that such words were spoken about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother:

See, he will cause the fall of many among his people,

But he will also let them rise again.

He is a being who will call up dissent.

A sword will pierce your soul, too.

Through him, the thoughts and ponderings of many hearts will be revealed.

. . . .

And when they had completed everything that the Law of the Lord demands, they returned home to Galilee, to their own town Nazareth. And the child grew strong, wise in his spirit-filled soul; divine grace was upon him.

Holy Nights

January 3, 2021

Luke 2:25–35, 39–40

A small light can light up a small space; a large light, such as the sun, can illuminate the world. And the light of the sun not only illuminates; it creates and sustains life.

Simeon is in the presence of the Child who will grow to call himself the Light of the World. And the intense light of this Child illuminates not only space but also time—the past and the future. In this light, Simeon recognizes the fulfillment of a long-waited and long-prepared promise made to the folk Israel.

And to the Mary soul, he reveals the future—a dynamic falling and rising of individuals, hints of future suffering, but also resurrection. And he intimates that the inner workings of souls will one day become transparent.

As sweet and innocent and paradisally glorious as this Child is, his destiny nonetheless will arouse dissent. He will embrace all pain and suffering and will transform them into resurrection and ascension. He will wrestle with death, illuminate it and infuse it with Life so that souls in all the world and in times to come may live in his Life after their own deaths. Through his Light and Life, humankind's future will open, blossom, and bear fruit beyond death. For, as the poet Hafiz says,

God

pours light

into every cup,

quenching darkness.*

*Hafiz, Interpretive version of Ghazal 11 by Jose Orez

www.thechristiancommunity.org 

New Year's Day 2021, The Middle of the Beginning

New Year's Day

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.

Friedrich Ogilvie, In the Beginning

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 human beings.
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 for [or, as] 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 everyone 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 humans as individuals, but individuals 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 human will, 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 one has beheld God with their eyes. The only begotten Son (God) who was within the Father Ground of the World has become the leader of human beings into this seeing.
 
New Year's Day
January 1, 2021
Cynthia Hindes
 

An apple tree follows the seasons. It blossoms in spring, fruits in the fall, rests in the winter. But citrus trees are different. On citrus trees, you will find blossoms among the fruit hanging in winter. The tree starts anew before the old is finished. As if to ensure continuity, new fruit is set before the old falls away.
 
The world of the angels is similar. They bring their new impulses for the future before the old is finished. We find the beginnings of things not at the end when things are winding down, but already amid the greatest activity.
 
Today, New Years' Day, is the 8^th day in the cycle of the twelve days of Christmas. It is the middle, the time for new beginnings to blossom. It is time for new impulses to set fruit. It is time for new inspirations.
 
In the beginning, was the Word. He was in the middle of God. He issued forth as an impulse to live. His will is to shine, step forth into the darkness, enlighten, enkindle, and enliven the dark.
 
And he was seen, perceived, witnessed by a human being—John; two Johns in fact: John the Baptist and John the Evangelist. They were like a pair of eyes that beheld the light of the Son God's life, He who came to earth in the middle of time.
 
Coming to earth at the midpoint in time, the Son God brought a new beginning. He brought the possibility that God could be seen with human eyes. The light of the Son God opened our eyes so that we could see not only Him but also the Great Father of All out of which He—and we—have come. It was a new beginning for all of humanity.
 
During the Holy Nights, he has come again. The Word is speaking. We, and time, blossom again. We have become gravid with possibility. Now at this high hour, we can see and become aware, discern that:
 
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.*
 
May we see and discern the beginning we are in the midst of. May we greet it in devotion, in faith, and love. May we bring it to birth and ripen it.
 
*Rilke, The Book of Hours, Macy and Barrows, page 47
www.thechristiancommunity.org

Holy Nights 2020, Light Without Shadow

Christmas Season

1 John 1:1-7

 
What was from the beginning,

what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have beheld, and touched with our hands: the Word of God which bears all Life within itself—that very Life revealed itself. We have seen it and so bear witness to it and proclaim it to you as the Life that is through all cycles of time. It was with the Father; now, it has revealed itself to us. We have seen it and heard it, and we proclaim to you so that you also can live in spiritual community with us; that is, our community with the Father and with Jesus Christ, his Son.
               
These things we are writing so that your joy may be full.
 
And this is the message we have received from Him and proclaim to you: that God is Light, and there is not any darkness in Him.
 
If we say that we have community with Him and yet conduct our lives in the darkness, what we say is a lie, and what we do is without reality.
 
Only when our Life is fully permeated by Light, as He Himself is in the Light, are we truly united in community, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us of all sin.

Holy Nights
December 27, 2020
Cynthia Hindes

The sun shining onto a lighted candle will naturally cast a shadow. The shadow of the solid candle. The shadow of the wick. But the light of the flame casts only the barest image of itself, outlined in white. We can see the heat shimmer and the faintest shadow of smoke. But the light itself casts no shadow.

We can liken ourselves to the candle. Our bodies are like the candle's solid wax. They cast shadows. But we can offer our inner substance to worlds, divine and earthly. The offering of self to God is reflected back from Him to generate in us a love that is creative. The warmth of our love and enthusiasm ignites an invisible flame. The purity of our living thinking generates a light that is clear and without shadow.

John announces to us that God is light; and that in Him, there is no darkness. What is it that casts shadows? Solid matter. But love and joining our lives with Christ generates light—Christ light in our daylight, the light of His life. In a poem by Nelly Sachs, we can hear of the light of the living Christ:

All the while like flames
It chases through our body
As if it were yet woven through with
The star's beginning
How slowly we light up in clarity –
O after how many light-years have
Our hands folded to ask,
Our knees sunk
And our soul opened itself
To thank?*

*(tr. by Ruth and Matthew Mead)
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