John 1:14

"And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his Glory, the Glory of the only begotten son of the Father,) Full of grace and truth."

@EDITRULE:

Many of you may not read cartoons, but I must confess that even at my age and stage in life, I still enjoy a chuckle every now and then, to ease some of the stress and strain of every day living.

One cartoon strip that I found amusing, had a punch-line which could easily be adapted to what we are experiencing in our society today, I don't know if you are familiar with the cartoon Peanuts.

In this strip little Linus was expounding to Sally about Christmas, he went on and on about the true meaning of the season, the census, the angels the shepherds, the wise men, the stable, the inn and so forth.

Obviously fascinated by it all he asked: "Sally what did she think about it all?"

Sally answered: "I think if I don't get everything I want for Christmas, I'm going to gross out."

Isn't that the great irony of this Season, that has been set aside to celebrate God's gift to the world, on that first Christmas morning when the second person of the Godhead the Word became flesh, when the infinite became finite, the invisible became tangible, the transcendent became imminent, divinity took on humanity and dwelt among us.

One of the familiar carols states that he was born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth. Yet so much of our emphasis is the same as Sally's, what we will get, not what we will give, and that's tantamount to celebrating Christmas without Christ. Because Christmas is all about Christ, I encourage you this Christmas to give the one gift truly worth giving, the gift of ourselves.

As we renew our covenant with the One who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, lived among men, suffered and died for your sins and mine, but praise be to God, he rose from the grave on that third day and he is alive forever more, and because he is who he is, and because he did what he did, we can exalt the Christ of Christmas, the world Jesus the Saviour of the world, The Lord of Lords, and King of Kings, who dwells among us so this season may be one of peace and goodwill to all men.

@EDITRULE:

Rev. Malcolm L. Eve

Presiding Elder A.M.E.

Church of Bermuda