The sound of Christmas carols, the advent of parties to
celebrate the end of the year and the rush to complete work by Christmas seems
to come around more quickly each year .The Christian season of Advent is a time
of waiting, reflecting and preparing for the birth of the Christ child, even
among the many different expressions of what Christmas means in Australia
today. To help me focus on the Christian meaning of Christmas, I have been
reading each day from a collection of reflections by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. They
were written from his prison cell, a condemned man who challenged the Nazi
regime in Germany and yet a hopeful man as his reflections demonstrate. He
prayed continually, “May your Kingdom come”. His words resonate with me at this
time with ongoing conflicts in many parts of the world where innocent men,
women and children suffer as a result of war, terrorism, political failure and
natural disasters. They resonate with me as I reflect on the 40 million asylum
seekers, refugees and boat people who are without a homeland, and the 2 million
children without an identity or birth certificate.
Bonhoeffer speaks about faith as being more important than
the trappings of religion that God is regularly to be found among those in need
whom others despise, reject or ignore. The strength of faith and belief in the
Christ child is to be found in our frailty, vulnerability and weakness.
As the days and years pass, ritual and the trappings of
religion associated with Christmas seem less important to me and I wait for the
simplicity of worship in the days after. The carol singing, the decorations,
the family gatherings all have a place, but not at the expense of the wonder of
the mystery of Christmas, of God coming among us as a human child, born into
conflict, poverty and tragedy for many. This is the stark reality of Christmas
and we continue to mask it with sentimentality, ritual and family celebrations,
often with just a passing concern or donation to our favourite charity for the
homeless, broken and hurting people of the world.
All that is Christmas comes from God. The divine comes among
us as a baby, a sign of hope and possibility. Christmas now, of course, means
different things to different people, but for people of Christian faith it is a
reminder of the mystery of the child among us who calls us to new horizons, to
think not of ourselves but of others, and to continue to name and challenge the
forces of darkness that destroy and exploit.
Yes, let us have our carols and family gatherings,
remembering that at the centre of our gatherings is the child. Let us remember,
too, those from whom we are separated and all who this Christmas will see
nothing to celebrate.
Canon Dr Ray Cleary
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