A Festival for Me?
Soul Snack 243/14 ... Christmas is Omnipotence wrapped in the bonds of my own fragile humanity. ~ Brennan Manning
The enormity of this gift formulated in eternity defies all apprehension. It will always elude the greatest minds but maybe not the weakest souls.
A vacancy in heaven, and a manger filled from heaven explains that first Christmas.
but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. (Philippians 2:7)
Heaven's unseen love is universally clothed in this annual festival of goodwill and grace. It is the Divine reaching down through the very darkness of space into the darkness of earth. Christmas gifts light and life to earth.
Yet, in this celebration of an empty and self giving heaven, have I not morphed divine generosity to a festival for me? Surely I have ignored its purpose while still priming myself for the next annual celebration of self-seeking revelry - New Year?
This frail new born, captive in a humble animal food receptacle, is unashamedly, year in and year out replaced by a full-some red figure speaking no-sense with jolly ho-hos.
The vacancy in heaven constantly snatches at my attention, yet too often escapes my times.
So easily omnipotence wrapped in the bonds of my own fragile humanity flees my family and wanders from my senses.
The manger in Bethlehem, this insignificant landing pad of God on earth shouts to my empty senses -- seek the simple, enjoy (even encounter) the elusive, but be sure to honor The Humble.
Omnipotence wrapped in the bonds of my own fragile humanity empties those full, while filling those empty.
Since that 1st Christmas it has:
- irrevocably reversed the future of a fragile race,
- irrevocably reversed the focus of a troubled present to an untroubled future, yet
- is so sadly overlooked by almost all.
Omnipotence wrapped in the bonds of my own fragile humanity wanted me, and has never sought to hide from me. So, after all, is Christmas really a festival for me?
Today's Soul Snippet:
"Christmas is a celebration lived between the creator's intent and the worlds' thoughts." ~ Michael Cartwright
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