Maybe it’s the twinkling lights, the colorful decorations, the lovingly wrapped presents, the flavors of peppermint and gingerbread, the scent of pine trees and Christmas cookies, the corny holiday movies… that make people a little happier at this time of year. Maybe it’s the hope for good things to come. Maybe it’s the “Holy Spirit,” which is only three letters off from “Holiday Spirit.” (I’m no linguist, but that’s probably not a coincidence.)
Is it the ‘Holy Spirit’ that fills us and causes us to feel joy, or could it be that the very joy we experience is actually a manifestation of the Holy Spirit itself, or… ? Whatever we believe or don’t believe, there is cause for joy.
In the Christian season of Advent, the four weeks before Christmas, we are expecting and preparing for something to come. That something is Christmas, celebrating Christ who came into the world in the same way that each of us did, as a baby. There’s a lot that can be said and thought about how and why Christ came into the world and what it means to Christians. This is what it means to me… and even if you don’t celebrate Christmas or care for Christ, I hope it will have meaning for you, too.
There’s a story in the Bible about a visit between Mary and Elizabeth, two women who quite miraculously became pregnant, one was much older and thought to be barren and the other was young and said to be a virgin—so yeah, kind of miraculous. Spoiler alert: Mary’s baby happens to be Jesus—yup, as in Jesus Christ. The two pregnant women meet and rejoice in the miracles that’ve taken place. As foretold, Elizabeth’s baby recognizes the Holy Spirit in Mary’s baby even from inside the womb and jumps for joy (as much as a baby can jump for joy in the womb).
I use this story because it was listed in the lectionary on the Sunday morning before Christmas, when Pastor Dorothy was not present because she got sick on her trip and was not going to make it back to Lana‘i in time for the worship service so I had to lead it and quickly wrote a short and simple message (which became this blog post) based on the gospel reading (Luke 1:39-45) to take the place of the sermon. And thank God for Sermon Seeds through which I found this quote by Meister Eckhart, 14th century:
“We are all meant to be mothers of God.”
If we think about what mothers do that fathers cannot do, a few things come to mind—among them, being pregnant and giving birth. So then are we all supposed to be like the virgin Mary and carry a holy child? Are we supposed to raise the perfect child? Unlikely. If we think of ‘God’ not as some powerful ruler in the heavens but simply as ‘good’ because “God is so good” just like the song says; if we think of God as love, hope, peace, and joy… it becomes a little more possible to be a mother of God.
As a mother carries her child, we also carry in us love, hope, peace, and joy with the ability and choice to deliver it into the world. But we don’t have to wait nine months. Thank God. A Christmas miracle! Is it not amazing that goodness can rest and grow within each and every one of us and can be brought into the world at any time?
During Mary and Elizabeth’s visit, the two women rejoice and praise the Lord for the miracle and blessing of the babies they are expecting. We are reminded of what we, too, can carry in us, give life to, and nurture. For that, we rejoice!
This post has sat in my ‘drafts’ for the twelve days of Christmas, Epiphany, and a week. But the Christmas message is one that we can live out all year long.
Spread love, give hope, work for peace, and take joy in all of it.
Speaking of music… here’s a holiday favorite that I didn’t get around to posting. Hope your Christmas was merry and your holidays happy.
with an attitude of gratitude 