The image of the man, woman and baby in the darkened stable has a powerful hold on people’s imaginations.
Why?
Maybe because so many can identify with someone huddled in darkness, turned away from the inn, apart from family. How many feel displaced, not ‘at home’ in their surroundings? How many suffer the darkness of loneliness, betrayal and rejection? How many dwell in the shadow of illness and grief? How many live, as first-time parents, with self-doubt and anxiety about the future for the family? The material world isn’t always hospitable.
But look closer at the baby: a universal symbol of hope and love.
But there’s more: a light radiating from the baby, and the light casts out darkness which has no power against the light. The light is the sign of God in a human life, re-creating lives. The light radiates not just from human love, but is divine: the eternal power of life, love and grace that seeks to fill wherever there is darkness. This light is not of this world, but it transforms this world.
At Christmas, those who have found the glory of this joy gather to give thanks for, and share, this most wonderful inner peace.
Come and join us and, wherever you are, may you know God’s blessings of joy.
Ven. Dr Rosemary Dunn
Archdeacon of Mission and Ministry and Archdeacon of Mackay
