Christmas

This morning I received a call that a guest I had invited to church for the service and lunch could not come. Mrs. Lai would not be able to get her son Yuen Loong and her granddaughters ready because she had a bad neck ache. It is a recurrent condition but was made worse because her house was affected by flash floods yesterday evening and she spent the night clearing mud off the floor. This is something that she has lived with for many years. The drainage system in that area of PJ just doesn't seem to get straightened out.

As I was trying to take in this news, I received a call from a friend in Australia. It was good to hear that she had been out for a leisurely walk on Christmas morning, and that had been her 'worship' of the day, before going out for lunch with relatives. Something different yet just as meaningful a way to welcome our newborn King.

Life goes on in many ways on this day that means so much to Christians. We join together in celebratory mood, but there is always the other side of people's lives that we may miss if we get too caught up in festivities. The best 'gift' we could ever desire has been given to us and of course we wish to share it. However, in sharing the 'good news', I always try to imagine what it would sound like to those whose lives are so different from mine; who actually struggle with everyday living in ways I have never experienced. The 'good news' must sound 'good' to them to. Otherwise they will never be able to connect with this God we speak about. Perhaps when they hear that Jesus, the Son of God, was born in a manger; in very humble circumstances, it will help them relate to the Christmas story. Let us not get too quickly to the Cross. Let us first help people take in the God who came near to them by taking on human flesh. Let us ourselves dwell on this mystery (the incarnation) of our faith.

I received an sms this morning that reminded me that "Christmas does not just happen when the clock ticks past midnight on 24th Dec. Christmas endures in the ticking of a heart that opens to Christ, at all times" (my paraphrase of the message).

Indeed, I ask for the grace to be open to God's (sometimes mysterious) workings in my life, especially in the coming year.