Pause in Wonder

A FRIEND recently remarked they were glad Christmas comes in December to brighten up the winter, and scorned my comment that Christmas actually related to the birth of Jesus who probably wasn’t born in December anyway.

Sadly understanding of the Christmas story is fading. Many children are unaware whose birthday we’re celebrating and few know He was born in Bethlehem. Even adults know little of the nativity story and many consider it irrelevant to their Christmas.

Yet Albert Einstein once wrote that the greatest wonder we can experience is the mysterious, the source of all true art and science and that anyone unable to pause in wonder standing rapt in awe, is as good as dead, his eyes blind.

So as we frantically ‘shop-‘til- we-drop’, send cards to people we never see, buy presents for those who want for nothing and collapse exhausted on Christmas Eve, we should pause and reflect on the real Christmas and its meaning.

Christmas is a time of peace, as proclaimed by the angels, giving ‘Glory to God on high.’ It’s a time of hope, poised as it is between two years, at the crossroads of past and future. A previous year, with its blessings and trials, is gone; a new year ahead, full of uncertainty, with Christmas between – the celebration of a birth 2000 years ago, a perennial bright spot on our calendars.

And Christmas should also be a time of love centred around the greatest love story ever told, the story of a God who loved us so much that He sent His only Son to rebuild a broken world.

The Christmas story, retold each year, never loses its majesty; nor ceases to fill our hearts with wonder. A baby born into a grim and dark world as a shining light across the barren landscape, a light that still invites all to come into the warmth of God’s grace and find peace, hope, and love.

So how about this Christmas living that story at one of the various crib or carol services available in this part of Spain and as we reflect on this amazing story, let’s pray that this Christmas we may each discover His peace, His love and Hope.

Duncan Burr is Licensed Lay Reader for the Anglican Chaplaincy of Costa Almeria and Costa Calida (further detail available at www.mojacarchurch.org) and may be contacted at d.burr@albox-online.net