December 13, 2021

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness-- on them light has shined.” (Isaiah 9:2)

Doing my annual Yuletide reading of A Christmas Carol, and struck this year by Fred’s (Scrooge’s Nephew) articulation of what we like to call “the Christmas spirit.” 

“I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they were really fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.”

Dickens’ classic is a classic for a reason. If you have a spare 90 minutes, you’ll be richly rewarded. Incarnational grace is a beautiful thing to behold!

“Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.” (Fourth Sunday of Advent – BCP)