REMEMBERING 'COMMUNION' AT CHRISTMAS

Christmas time connects with many people in many ways, and has across the decades offered the very sentimental, the very decadent, the seasonal, as well as the nudge to consider a certain spiritual reality, sometimes tucked within the religious and sometimes the common. It is a time to align with what is known of the historical Jesus, and for some, equally a time to argue against the reality of Jesus' life then and now.  For some, the time is ripe to revisit Him in worship and to draw nearer. For others it is the time to invest in everything but Him and His. Yet for others it is just a time to get off a few days from work or school, to connect with indulgences, to connect with family and friends... a time to party hearty. It is a time to give, and a time to get. It is for some a time for revival, and for some an opportunity for rebellion... a time for spiritual focus for some, and for some, worldly distraction.

One nuanced lesser icon of the holiday is the 'mistletoe'. While not quite so Christian in its origins as to how the mistletoe entered tradition, it prompted our romantic sympathies to afford one a kiss while standing beneath the strategically placed portion of this plant and preferably given by someone well-liked. It became connected with Christmas, not especially being biblical, but with a bit of a stretch, maybe it is about love. Maybe it's just an excuse for a smooch. Then again, maybe it [the mistletoe] was and is a fair fit for the holiday, for as it attached to other plants in nature as an opportunist, so too does much holiday tradition attach itself to the birth of Jesus, without emphasizing the gravity of His being and our own becoming.

You could also say that God gave a kiss to the forehead of humanity, and that expression of love is the gift of His coming, to 'seek and save that which is lost' (Luke 19:10). I'd like to think of that unusual star hovering about Bethlehem at that time as a type of signal, like the mistletoe, preparing us to be kissed by God, letting the shepherds, the magi, and the curious community, even the beasts near, regard this demonstration of grace early on.  God demonstrated His love for us in Jesus and thereby offers Communion. Communion is all about being connected. Christmas is about communion with God, a communion by His own design. Much as with the mistletoe, having to voluntarily step under it to receive what it brings, grace must have our informed welcome as an act of faith, to gain of it fully... and even that has the help of God.

Christmas is about the Charity of God towards us, His condescension to relate to us in History, for our ultimate relief, to be intimate with His beloved creation with a sacred compassion and outreach, and to touch us with grace while yet holy. We here note the meeting of mankind with His mercy. We note His call for us to awaken. We arise upon salvation, His gift to sinners, because of love.  Exceeding 'Merry', this 'Christmas' is Blessed. Come to Jesus. Come to God. His 'treasure' was brought to Bethlehem, "His only begotten Son."  "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Communion.
PRAYER: All glory to Your name, O' God. Blessing, and honor to the one wise God, our King eternal, and Heavenly Father. We thank You for grace and for mercy and for Your incredible reach of love usward, we bow in awe. Amen and Amen.
A blessed Christmas, saints of God.
By Dea. McNeal Brockington