"Christmas Message"

Originally published in the South Jetty Newspaper, Christmas Edition
Sometimes I wonder who actually reads these things. I mean, here you have "Christmas Messages" from a handful of clergy in Port Aransas, and it could be a bit overwhelming. Do parishioners from each denomination read only what "their" particular pastor wrote? Or, having heard from the same pastor week after week, does a person seek out a new perspective in the comfort of newsprint? Might you be the comparative type who decides to shop around and see the difference among the various voices of our faith traditions? Certainly there are a few critics who read these, looking for a bit of faulty theology or perhaps just something she or he does not agree with in order to treasure a small resentment, or reaffirm her or his stronghold against participation in any church.

Who ever you are and for whatever reason you happen to have made it this far in this Episcopal Priest's Christmas Message, I'd like to offer the possibility that it doesn't matter what intention brought you all the way to the second paragraph, but that you are still here. There is some little place in you where curiosity has been jostled awake, and there is room in your heart for a bit of hope of what may come. This is after all, a season of hope of what could be. Hope of what is becoming.

Briefly, I'd encourage you to go ahead and read all the columns, which is what I, for one, do. I like to hear the variety, and see where each of us focuses. But, for now, let's get back to hope. Hope is an illogical thing. Hope stands against reality, and eventually stands above fallen perceived realities. Hope is a candle in the dark, or a weary face gazing upward waiting for the clouds move past the moon, waiting for one more glance. Hope is the recognition of the daunting forces that would work against us, not excluding death, and taking a small courageous step toward life. Hope is the great unlikelihood of remembering the birth of a baby in a back-water corner of a long-gone empire thousands of years ago, who lived in spite of the genocidal efforts of a jealous king.

In my tradition we speak of December 25th as the Feast of the Incarnation. Incarnation is the word we use to describe God putting on the flesh of mortals in the person Jesus Christ, and of Mary being willing to host God in her own Body, so that hope may no longer be just a concept, but may be born into the world. All of this is impossible, of course, which is why it is about hope. Hope stands above fallen perceived realities, after all.

What hope is waiting to be born into your life this year? What hope lies just below the surface of the mask of cynicism toward the world, and is longing to find full expression in this day-to-day existence? Who is waiting and watching in the dark to see a glimpse of moonlight in your eyes once the clouds have past? This is the Feast of Incarnation, celebrate it by doing the impossible and living a full life laced with hope.

Of all the wonderful and important messages you receive this season, remember that the world awaits the hope that is being born in each of our hearts. As Mary bore Christ in the world in her body; may a manger  be made ready in our hearts to receive the God of Hope. Then we may become the bearers of hope to a world in need of hope. Our lives may be the only (incarnate) Christmas Message to someone who needs to receive a Christmas Message. Carry hope inside you and change the world beyond all apparent impossibility.