No longer will your Teacher hide himself,
but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher,
While from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears:
"This is the way; walk in it,"
when you would turn to the right or to the left.
L ate one Christmas Eve, even as my mother oversaw the bathing of her three boys, my father came into the bathroom and shouted, "Santa Claus is here!"
Of course, I immediately bolted for the door, but Mom stopped me saying I had to put some clothes on first. As if Santa had never seen a nekkid kid before! Well, by the time I was dressed he was gone. I ran right past the display of toys and stuff to the window -- where I saw nothing. No sleigh, no reindeer, no tracks in the muddy yard. He was gone, and that was as close as I ever came to seeing the Old Man.
There comes a point when we're not content with the Lord's gifts anymore. We want to know the Giver. We want to hear his voice in our ears, and his clear direction about how we should live our lives. We want communion with God and with his Church.
For adults, that is the promise of Christmas. We've learned to expect trouble in this world. We've seen that there will be no workers' paradise in Russia or anywhere else. There will always be a few absurdly, obscenely wealthy people while the vast majority struggles to get by. It's the best we can do. I don't expect an end of environmental degradation; all our clever technological innovations cannot keep up with our ever increasing demand for more energy, faster travel, quicker communication, useless information, cheaper entertainment, and more stuff. No one believes we can have it all and heaven too.
Nor can we imagine how a clever God might satisfy our inordinate demands for more. If some of us have learned to live with less, and even to practice a certain abstemiousness, they still like their little luxuries and feel they have a right to them.
Some of us realize our hunger and thirst will be satisfied when...
The Lord will give you the bread you needand the water for which you thirst.
On that day, this nekkid Kentuckian will be satisfied. (Is 19:20)
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.