It HAS happened
Christ has come!
I looked through the images of the blog and realised that I do often start from a dark place. This is not uncommon but at times there can be too much of that lamenting style and not enough of the recognising the bright light that has happened and continues to shine.
In my church's services we always proclaim the mystery of faith,
Christ has died,
Christ is risen,
Christ will come again.
In this time of Christmastide it is odd to start the thoughts constantly on the Good Friday component that Jesus has died; rather we want to spend time with the extraordinary idea that Jesus came in the first place.
The historical reliability of the mystery of faith gives a firm answer within itself: a man from Galilee caused issues with the authority structure, was crucified, somehow then was claimed to be alive and despite the small follower count many joined the eschatological uplifting of this new cult and now biggest global religion. It is a mystery, and there is a a grasping of it.
The 2nd Sunday after Christmas holds the initial joy and mystery which is also incredible! Paul's words in Ephesians 1.3-14 is a powerful sentence of praise uplifting the eternal nature of Christ while acknowledging his important bodily presence with us as creatures in creation. John 1.1-18 of course is a mystical explanation of the word of God dwelling with us (also happened to be the reading I read this morning, 31 December). We don't tend to reach for this mystery as often, and it is still an awesome event.
Coming from Christmas and the bright light that it typically holds, let us continue to be washed in light, enjoying the new birth and the new light knowing that Christ will come again.
