It is lovely, after years of severe troubles, conflict and violence, to rejoice in encouraging indications of the peace in our land.
We will have the light of hope and love stirred in us by the lights of the candles in homes throughout the land at Christmas. Together we shall be thinking of those in the streets of our cities and towns; those in the depths of far glens, rocky windswept coasts and islands. We will be praying to God to strengthen the bonds of faith and love that unite those who worship Him in populous places and those who worship Him in lonely churches of hill and plain. We will be asking Him to teach us to help each other, that through all of us His glory may be advanced and His kingdom of love may be built up in our native land.
The candles, signs of God's unceasing Light in the world, Christ, plus our awareness of the faithfulness of the children of light throughout thousands of years, inspires us in building up His Kingdom of light in ourselves and in our nation. Believers know the great source of inward peace under all circumstances and celebrate it in welcoming the Prince of Peace at Bethlehem and at all times.
It is just right that on the Sunday before Christmas we rejoice and celebrate the coming of God into His world as the Prince of Peace. The Epistle, St Paul's letter to the Phillipians (Ch 4, V47), is about God's peace and the way we can receive it.
It reads: "Rejoice in the Lord always again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Be not anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. Then the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
When we speak of something like Christmas being a mystery or the peace passing all understanding, we are not doubting. We need to realise that being a mystery does not mean being totally unintelligible. In a true mystery, the more we understand the more we know there is to understand. We, with our limited minds, cannot grasp the concept of the universal God. If we could do that there would hardly be need for faith. So God makes full allowance for our limitations. He comes through to us in ways we do understand. When the prodigal son realised the wonder of his father's love his whole life came delightfully alive.
I and my former colleague in "Thinking Anew" (F. Mac N, now retired due to ill-health) have often quoted words by Sir John Betjeman in his strong conviction in the mystery of the Holy Incarnation and Holy Communion.
"And is it true? And is it true,
This most tremendous tale of all,
Seen in a stained-glass window's hue
A baby in an ox's stall?
The Maker of the stars and sea
Become a child on earth for me?
No love that in a family dwells
No carolling in frosty air,
Nor all the steeple-shaking bells
Can with this single truth compare
That God was Man in Palestine
And lives today in Bread and Wine."
W.W.