CHRISTMAS WEEK MEDITATION

Rev. Wallace W. Robbins

Scripture Reading: John 1

Focus Quote: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.   

It is an honor to bring, for the next two meditations in this section, the work of the late Rev. Wallace W. Robbins, and from his book published by the UUCF "For Everything There Is A Season: meditations on the Christian Year" originally published in 1978 and reprinted in 1987 shortly before his death. These are timeless reflections that seem particularly apt for the end of this year. You can read more from this work at our liturgical blog, www.thechristianyear.blogspot.com.

Meditation:   

The vision of God is the goal of human life. Yet, God is the invisible one for no one at any time has seen him...We seek a vision of the unseen; we strive to know the unknowable...The atheist who says this or that is not God is God's servant speaking the truth; but the atheist who says God does not exist is as foolish as the man who says he does and points to a fence post. Both are dull souls who refuse to seek for the vision of God beyond what light rays will bring their eyes....   

The vision of God is only for the eyes of faith....Behold the girl-mother and the child asleep in the crib. Say that this is not God here and you say the truth, but see the haloed light over the stable and you see the meaning of life--at least a little of the vision of God....   

Despair not: there will come a moment, midnight, dawn, or day; there will be a place under the light of the tree, of the stars, of the holy candlestick near the bread and wine, in the faces of little children, of fathers and mothers, there will be a lone time too before sleep, or on a walk, or in church, even in a hospital bed when the glory of life will be upon you, and within you there will be a quickening of the holy spirit.   

Prayer: 

Rev. Ron Robinson   

O God of memory and hope, of being and becoming, we pause at this moment in our lives and at this moment in time, we pause and are thankful for all that has brought us to this moment, for all those who have carried us here. What a blessing it has been to be on this road to Bethlehem again this year. It has been a bumpy road, with many missteps. And yet the spirits of those gone before us have guided us and inspired us to find our way again. O God who breaks into our world with love so fierce, here you have led us, even here. So much is before us as we approach this holiday. Let us not forget to find the peace in the moment, the love in the strangers around us, the joy in the unfamiliar, and the hope in Thy world reflected in the world of the child. May the light of the Christ child rekindle our souls in these cold days and spark within us the fires of Thy presence so that we can do no other than be a light for Christ in the seasons to come. Amen.