#theincarnation

Thought for the Day – 11 September – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971) The Incarnation “The Incarnation, which is the coming of God amongst men, in order that He might be loved more, requires that man, in return, love God and be obedient to His commandments. Since the Infinite God could do no more for us than give us His entire Self, it is only right that we should be…

Thought for the Day – 11 September – The Incarnation

Thought for the Day – 11 September – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

The Incarnation

“By means of the Incarnation, God comes to man so that man may return to God. God created man by an act of love to display and to diffuse, His infinite goodness. But this relationship of love was disrupted by sin. Love became fear, on the part of man and it became justice, on the part of…

The Incarnation “God stepping into humanity…”

What does this mean?  Why does this ACT of God matter?  How does this change the game for humanity, for me?

As Christmas is fast approaching I’ve been surprised by momentary glimpses, into the ‘Reason for the Season.”  It’s real meaning seemingly more and more obscured, God choosing to step into humanity, literally the Divine willingly entering into the flesh and bones of a man as a gift for all men!

What does this mean?  Why does this ACT of God matter?  How does this change the game for humanity, for me?

If this is true…why are we, as a culture, as living and breathing miracles, each one of us, running head long away from this most beautiful and meaningful reason?

Those are the questions that have been haunting me…in quiet moments…I find myself caught up in awe and wonder as I wrestle with the overwhelming flood of possibilities that cross my mind.  They bring hope…light…life…purpose to my being…to your being…yet I still run.

John, one of Christ’s closest friends, left us with these thoughts… “Christ became human flesh and lived among us. We saw His shining-greatness. This greatness is given only to a much-loved Son from His Father. He was full of loving-favor and truth (John 1:14, NLV).”

Perhaps in the confusion, weightiness of pressures and pain of life it just seems too impossible to believe that God stepped into humanity…that He chose to incarnate as a man because He is for us?  In all our fixing, buying, working, crying, thriving, surviving and even dying we just can’t pick our heads up enough to see this TRUTH.  But I do believe it’s right in front of us, we just aren’t used to seeing God, His TRUTH and that He is for us, so we miss it.

The day after Thanksgiving the Arbutus Town Hall, The Greater Arbutus Professional and Business Association and caring citizens came together to decorate this small town, that seems buried in the surrounding urban and suburban sprawl, for the coming Christmas activities and celebrations.  This year was no different than any other, but I was blessed to glimpse Jesus in the flesh as I served alongside those who gave of their time, talents and finances to transform Arbutus into a special place…a place where it’s possible to touch and see God incarnate.

This might sound CRAZY, but I encountered God…  And you can too!  You can see Him at work in the unity of heart, as different folks from different walks of life gather to serve to love on their community.  Their were the homeless, the addicted, a dentist, small business owners, construction workers, florists, fire fighters all working hand in hand to make something beautiful happen down on East Drive.  There is more evidence to consider the up coming festivities: The Train Garden at the Arbutus Fire Hall, the gathering of children at the Santa House where they receive gifts, Southwestern Emergency Services annual Christmas shopping spree for the poorest in our community so that they might be able to have a heart felt celebration in their homes this Christmas.  All this begs the question why?  What are we preparing for?  What are we looking forward too?  What are we celebrating?  Why are we serving?  Why are we giving?  And, Why are we caring?

I think deep down inside we all know the answer, but we’ve chosen to minimize it…reject it…or just plain ignore it…yet it haunts us…there are glimpses of the TRUTH all over and it oozes out during our Christ-mas celebration.   While your wondering the streets of Arbutus this year listen and hear the lyrics of the toons being played over the loud speaker system…there you will find a glimpse of the reason for the season; or catch a glimpse of the used to be homeless-alcoholic sitting on the bus stop encouraging another lost soul to find restoration like he did…again the reason for the season becomes obvious; or maybe you’ll catch it in the eyes of a child as she is given a gift by a stranger for no other reasons than…it’s the reason for the season; or perhaps you’ll catch it when you see the volunteer army that comes together to make Christmas possible for hundreds of families that never dreamt it possible…the reason for the season; and maybe…just maybe you’ll stumble across the reason yourself like I did time and time again while hanging around that beautiful small town hidden on East Drive and Sulfur Spring Road…the reason for the season as far as I can see…God loves us.  

Can you see it, in the love, the love for one another, that’s the reason…the truth…that’s a glimpse of God’s greatness…of His love and His favor for mankind.