The culmination of Advent with the coming of Christmas calls us once again to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
John’s Gospel talks of Jesus existing with God from the beginning, before being incarnated as a human being, and of then returning to be with God after His death & resurrection.
This is the pattern not only for Jesus but for every human being.
We each come from God and at our birth enter into this world carrying with us ‘memories ‘ of the Home whence we came.
We are each called, as Jesus was, to incarnate some aspect[s]of God into our world: it is our vocation, our calling. It’s almost certainly not something overtly religious, and it may be something you consider quite ordinary, but its what, deep down, you know you are meant to do and become, and it is what brings you fully alive.
There needs to be discernment to avoid the mis-use of our vocation. We will find ourselves tempted to do so as Jesus was.
Whatever we incarnate of God, being ‘of God’,must therefore transcend death. It is what we take back Home to God, as gift, when we die.
Its not enough simply to celebrate God’s incarnation in Jesus this Christmas. As Evelyn Underhill wrote “The Eternal Birth must take place in you.” The challenge is to be open to God incarnating Godself in our own lives, in whatever particular way we are called to.
Thanks for these words of encouragement Henry. It reminds me that we are heralds of grace and truth for each other. A shared communal vocation that we can all share in regardless of status or creed or ethnicity.