It’s nearly the New Year (2023!) and the end of the first week of Christmas. Each year, this confluence of the church and lunar calendars always strikes me as wholly appropriate. At the hinge of the year, we celebrate and reflect upon the event that is truly the hinge of all history, Christ’s incarnation. 

The full significance of what God has accomplished in Christ’s coming is something that we will never fully comprehend. I’m currently reading, and only partially understanding, a book on the “divine ideas” tradition in the Christian tradition. Among other elements, this book focuses on how some Christian thinkers have understood and expounded upon the prologue to John’s Gospel. These thinkers have reflected upon on how through Jesus, the pre-existent Word, the light and life of all things, all creation is loved and known into being. In Jesus, God has entered into His creation to rescue and restore, to bring us into truth, into life and light. Wonder of wonders! Mystery of mysteries! 

As we cross the threshold into 2023, perhaps take a few minutes to reflect upon and contemplate this wondrous mystery. Reading (or listening to) the prologue of John's Gospel is a great tool for this. Ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate your heart and mind so you might live more fully in the light of this glorious happening. I can think of no better way to be rooted and established, readied for what is to come at the start of this New Year. May the joy, wonder, and glory of Christ’s incarnation lay hold of us all in a fresh way! 

In Christ (more mystery!),

Peter+

Ps. This first week of Christmas has included three holy days in the church calendar. First, December 26th was the Feast of St. Stephen, one of the church’s first deacons (thanks be to God for Krista and Paul), and her first martyr. Second, December 27th commemorated St. John the Evangelist, whose Gospel (the book of John) will be a particular focus of our preaching at COTC this coming year. Lastly, December 28th was the Feast of the Holy Innocents, a stark reminder of the brokenness and evil of the world in which we live, and into which Jesus entered in order to heal, deliver, judge, and restore. As you take a minute to reflect upon Christ’s incarnation, the collects for these three days might be an aid to your contemplation.