hi folks
Here are my Christmas Eve thoughts. As I have mentioned, they will be set
in a "Persian tent", with plenty of images of stars and camels on screens in
the church as well.
It draws on some of Hugh MacKay's social commentary and analysis for
Australian society, but it may well be that some of the 'searches' he
outlines have some relevance for those in other parts of the world. Who
knows.
Comments very welcome (the ending seems a little weak to me at the moment)
Grace and peace
Gordon Ramsay
Kippax UCA
Canberra Australia
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"It would be easy to describe Australia
as a society paralysed by its own uneasiness,
gripped by insecurity and fearful of its futureŠ
but such a bleak picture, though accurate, is incomplete.
There is simultaneously a surge of hope, a starburst of new energy
and a sense of 'buzz' that sometimes overtakes us in spite of our doubts and
disappointments."
They are some of the observations by Hugh MacKay, the Australian social
commentator, as he looks at some of the forces, influences and attitudes
shaping us at the moment.
Time and again he returns to the theme that what Australians are looking for
at the moment
and what they are becoming more and more aware that they are searching for
is what MacKay calls a "guiding story"
Maybe it is a set of ideals, maybe it is a stronger value & belief system,
maybe it is a 'blueprint' for the future,
maybe it is something that connects us and gives us confidence for the days
ahead.
But for each of us, and for our community and our nation,
we are in the midst of a journey, not necessarily knowing what it is we are
looking for.
"Where on earth will I arrive, How on earth will I survive,
what on earth keeps me alive
when I'm journeying so far
why are voices calling me, who on earth should I believe,
when will things come easily?
The answer's in the stars."
This journey we are on, possibly with not much more security than comes
from sitting in the midst of a foreign land under the protection of a tent,
seems to cover so many areas of our lives
. we are looking for an antidote to our insecurity
. we are looking for a re-evaluation of the place of work:
a valuing of work, but with it having a much more balanced place in our
lives
. we are looking for a way to establish ongoing and sturdy family
relationships that provide sustenance and stability for our children,
but with a greater degree of freedom and flexibility
. we are looking for closer connections in our neighbourhoods with the
security of feeling safe and building into our neighbourhoods ways of making
up for our shrinking households
. Beyond and deeper even than these, we are looking for heroes that are
worthy of emulating. Heroes that are not remote from us, but who can lift
our spirits and expand our horizons
. and as part of our search for a guiding story, we are looking for leaders
who instil confidence, a sense of purpose, and offer us the direction
towards a place we can and want to be.
"Where on earth will I arrive, How on earth will I survive,
what on earth keeps me alive
when I'm journeying so far
why are voices calling me, who on earth should I believe,
when will things come easily?
The answer's in the stars."
History is filled with stories and poems and images of people making a
pilgrimmage somewhere in an effort to find something which is deeper, more
meaningful, more fulfilling holy.
The holy grail, the buried treasure, Lasseter's lost reef.
And in this ancient tale of the magi the wise men (& women?) we have
another such story.
But the reason we are here tonight, is that we think that these magi were on
to something.
Whoever they were, wherever they came from, however many of them made the
journey. there was something that lay at the heart of this journey that
sets it apart in a sense.
Not because they entered grandeur on their arrival.
The Bible talks about them arriving at a house
Our book tonight talks about it as "a simple shelter".
TS Eliot says in The Journey of the Magi
"it was (you may say) satisfactory."
The thing that sets this journey apart is the recognition that the pilgrims,
the magi, had at the end of the journey.
A king. A healer. The true holy man?
Or at Christmas do we dare say that the end of the journey helped the magi
see all of these.
Do we, as we enter this Christmas, discover those things which we search for
in life:
the anti-dote to insecurity;
the basis for new ways of relating to each other and to those around us
do we find in this journey of ours the place for building closer community
connections.
Are our eyes open to discover here a hero that is worth emulating
the model of a leader who brings confidence, purpose and direction
and even looking beyond and deeper, do we find, as Hugh MacKay puts it "a
guiding story'
We will make our journeys, follow through on our pilgrimmages,
and discover the things that our eyes are open to see.
But Christmas is not the time where we do all the work, where we make the
main journey.
The journey we celebrate, in wonder and mystery, is the journey of the
divine into humanity.
The journey of the Son of God to become the Son of Man.
It is the journey of the making of a new future, an alternative way of
living, a new grace-driven way of being human.
When someone makes a pilgrimmage, they are unlikely to return the same
But because of God's pilgrimmage this Christmas journey of Jesus -
it is the world that can never be the same again.
The world has new eye to see with, hew ears to hear with, and a new heart
beat to keep it alive.
It is as we encounter the divine among us in this journey of ours that we
can not return the same.
Again, Eliot has one of the magi saying
"We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods."
In the book tonight, Jasper steps forward, receiving the gift from the child
and clasps it tightly against his chest.
Tonight, tomorrow, in the days to come,.
we each make our journey, we are met by God on God's journey.
and we each receive the gift from the Christ Child
And God invites us to allow it
to become the gift of a guiding story for all that we are