21 December, today, is the shortest day, so time and light really are against us. Today is the winter solstice and therefore holds the shortest day and the longest night, when the northern hemisphere is tipped as far away from the sun as we’ll get, before we start tipping back again. The world is literally tilting on its axis today.
Christmas Day was traditionally celebrated on this day until changed to the 25thDecember by Pope Gregory in 1552. You see the early church, not knowing the exact date of Christ’s birth because the shepherds and the Kings didn’t keep a diary, determined that the most obvious day was the shortest, so that when the birth came, the light began to return. The Light of the World would surely have been born into the darkness not just of the night but of the whole cosmic cycle. If you are God, who has created the heavens and the earth, and created humanity, and you realise that the only way to save it all from the annihilation of hope, is to come yourself to sort it out, then of course you would choose the darkest day, the day nearest to the pre-creation place of void and formlessness as described in the picture language of the first chapter of the book of Genesis.
God has loved us so much, so much, that he became flesh, not as part of a nativity scene, but in the simplicity of a birth, without a home. God has come among us, Emmanuel, meaning God is with Us, and we have beheld his glory. What a cosmic decision to be God and then to come here. Flooding the dark with light. And today on a day that’s been dull and gloomy and that’s just the news - we watch for the light.
The shortest day is followed by the return of more and more daylight and the Light of the World. We shall soon see the promise of his glory fulfilled and the only question for us at yet another Christmas, is how will we respond? Will you be a person of Light, or will you allow times when darkness can take over?
21 December, today, is the shortest day, so time 21 December, today, is the shortest day, so time and light really are against us. Today is the winter solstice and therefore holds the shortest day and the longest night, when the northern hemisphere is tipped as far away from the sun as we’ll get, before we start tipping back again. The world is literally tilting on its axis today and light really are against us. Today is the winter solstice and therefore holds the shortest day and the longest night, when the northern hemisphere is tipped as far away from the sun as we’ll get, before we start tipping back again. The world is literally tilting on its axis today
No comments:
Post a Comment