Born of Light

At the beginning of the Church year Paul's letter to the Romans reminds us of a few of the commandments (Rom 13.9). These laws that make for a better community. They are a backbone around which our community survives and is able to become a living thing. They are also something that we do not really pay attention to unless they become broken or unless they become a part of the disease process of society at which point we moan and make protest but do not really think about healing. We allow the continued presence of the dis-ease within society learning to cope with it much like a cancer patient who knows that the disease will eventually kill them and there is no cure. This is indeed a diagnoses of our current society world wide as well as ourselves as part of a community of faith.

In looking forward, as we do during Advent, to the coming of Christ and the incarnation we look forward to that time of God's presence that delivers mattocks rather than swords (Isa 2.4). On other words we are looking towards a peace that is beyond all understanding in the midst of war and atrocity the only thing perhaps that we do understand to our detriment. In a society that is governed by God's presence we enter into community acknowledging each as different and yet beloved by God. We appear to be asleep at the wheel of life as we accept as natural the burdens of atrocities that plague our society and communities. We do indeed need to wake up (Rom 13.11b) to the dangers that are present in our societies and communities as a result of complacency towards the precepts of our faith.

Hope appears in the midst of darkness

Not knowing when or where the Christ light will appear dulls our senses and encourages our weakness to re-surface. The weakness of thinking that it is our own efforts that make the difference and so we aggrandise our selves rather than allowing Christ in and humbling ourselves. Once we bein to allow the attitude that we know what is right and proper we begin to fail in our portrayal and reception of Christ in our lives. It becomes an issue of our own self rather than allowing ourselves to let go and allow God's presence to flow into our communities. We do not need the commandments when we are Christlike as everything we do is a surrender to God and an acceptance of God's presence in our lives. The unending need to instill our authority, out wishes and our wants upon those around us shows how little we are accepting of God's presence.

We begin again today in our journey towards the incarnation. In beginning again we need to allow ourselves to accept that we are born of light in Christ. The darkness that we see around us is a creation of our own apathy and need to control. We cannot and do not control anything. We just need to understand this. The kudos received from society is the kudos that promotes darkness within society. We seek a place where there are no guns and other warlike instruments. We seek a place of peace within ourselves and our communities to show God's presence in the acceptance of all who are made in God's image. This is not a place of hatred and division but a place of acceptance and revelation. The presence of God shines out in the most unexpected places to show us where God is not for us to chase but for us to emulate and find God's incarnation closer to us then we think. In starting our journey again we need to re-visit the cold to find the warmth of Christ's light in the hearts of the rejected rather than in the pews of the 'saved'. We look forward in hope to become children of light who have not forgotten and are prepared to ring light into darkness.