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A Song and a Musing for Christmas
Dec. 26th, 2008 10:33 amI'm a bit late with this Christmas post, in one sense, but it's only the day after the assigned dated for Christmas -- and in another sense, it actually applies no matter what day it is, so forget what I said about being late. ;-)
I want to share with you a song and a musing -- the musing is one I've shared before, but it bears repeating. The song is definitely one of my favorite songs ever, and is especially thought-provoking at Christmastime.
The Song:
Mary, Did You Know? by Mark Lowry
The Musing:
Christmas for me is about God becoming man. In the daily devotional book I use called "Grace for the Moment" by Max Lucado, there is an appropriate devotional thought for December 25:
It all happened in a most remarkable moment... a moment like no other...
God became a man. Divinity arrived. Heaven opened herself and placed her most precious one in a human womb.
The omnipotent, in one instant, became flesh and blood. The one who was larger than the universe became a microscopic embryo. And he who sustains the world with a word chose to be dependent upon the nourishment of a young girl.
God had come near.
There is a word in Urdu -- majism -- which means something like "become flesh". Ma means "the one who" and jism means "body" -- literally, "the one who is body/flesh." The word is used in the Urdu translation of the Bible to refer to Christ as God made flesh. Yet there are shades of meaning in that word that don't quite translate into English. For me, it is a word that truly seems to capture in a single word (as much as it is possible to capture such a concept) the meaning of the infinite God limiting Himself and entering the world as a child, in order to make it possible for me to find peace. That's what I celebrate at Christmastime, the time when that embodiment is traditionally remembered -- the first part of that greater celebration of the Passion that comes at Eastertime.
"Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death -- even death on a cross!" Philippians 2:6-8
No matter how you celebrate the day or the season, I pray that each one of you -- my dearest friends -- will find a peace that surpasses understanding, which will stay with you every day of the year.
Blessings to you and your loved ones this Christmas season!
I want to share with you a song and a musing -- the musing is one I've shared before, but it bears repeating. The song is definitely one of my favorite songs ever, and is especially thought-provoking at Christmastime.
The Song:
Mary, Did You Know? by Mark Lowry
The Musing:
Christmas for me is about God becoming man. In the daily devotional book I use called "Grace for the Moment" by Max Lucado, there is an appropriate devotional thought for December 25:
God became a man. Divinity arrived. Heaven opened herself and placed her most precious one in a human womb.
The omnipotent, in one instant, became flesh and blood. The one who was larger than the universe became a microscopic embryo. And he who sustains the world with a word chose to be dependent upon the nourishment of a young girl.
God had come near.
There is a word in Urdu -- majism -- which means something like "become flesh". Ma means "the one who" and jism means "body" -- literally, "the one who is body/flesh." The word is used in the Urdu translation of the Bible to refer to Christ as God made flesh. Yet there are shades of meaning in that word that don't quite translate into English. For me, it is a word that truly seems to capture in a single word (as much as it is possible to capture such a concept) the meaning of the infinite God limiting Himself and entering the world as a child, in order to make it possible for me to find peace. That's what I celebrate at Christmastime, the time when that embodiment is traditionally remembered -- the first part of that greater celebration of the Passion that comes at Eastertime.
"Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death -- even death on a cross!" Philippians 2:6-8
No matter how you celebrate the day or the season, I pray that each one of you -- my dearest friends -- will find a peace that surpasses understanding, which will stay with you every day of the year.
Blessings to you and your loved ones this Christmas season!
