(To gain a further understanding of the meditation that follows, a reading of the suggested scriptures will be most helpful. Also, a study of the Editorial Notes at the end of the post may prove to be beneficial)
Luke 2: 41 – 51
Lule 2:49-51 ” Why were you searching for me? Didn’t
you know I had to be in my Father’s
house?” (1)
The stirring to life of the spirit is by far the most auspicious event in our development as human personalities. Before that happens, one is little more than one of the inanimate objects that surround him.
Robert Frost’s poem, “Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening “ brings some enlightenment to this truth.
“Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.”(2)
The poet becomes an integral part of the rustic wintery scene. The picture would be incomplete without the presence of the one who deliberately stops and becomes completely integrated into it.To a degree, he is indistinguishable from the frozen lake, the snow-covered trees, and every day, occurrences of a winter’s artistry. It is the sound of the warning bells on the horse’s harness that resurrects the memory of his purpose for travel and warns him of a responsibility awaiting his fulfillment.
The Birth of Jesus at Christmas Time is God’s poignant reminder of the urgent need for everyone to continue the essential journey, and embrace the responsibility that we own as humans. Only to the degree that our spirits are fully awake can we fulfill the mission for which we are born. St Irenaeus of the early second century identified the mission in this way:” The Glory of God, is man fully alive.”
The wisdom of ” the Wisemen” might have faded into the background of their own culture, as nothing worthy of note, if their spirits had not stirred within them the responsibility to search for the New Born King.
The shepherds returned to the lowly responsibility of caring for their sheep but now were more fully alive with an acute consciousness of God.
Twelve years later Jesus is in attendance with his parents in Jerusalem for the ” Feast of the Passover.” On the return journey home, Jesus becomes separated from his devout parents who begin a frantic search among the many pilgrims. That journey ends back in Jerusalem in the Temple. In response to his parent’s anxious inquiry, Jesus responds: ” Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”
In reality, this story mirrors God’s chosen destiny for each of His children, that they may dwell all the days of their life in ” The Father’s House.”It was David, the Psalm writer, of the Old Testament, who embraced that vision as his destiny.
” One thing have I desired of the
Lord, that is what I seek:
That I may dwell in the House of the Lord
all the days of my life” ( Ps. 27:4)
In our Father’s House, we share His permeating presence and learn that His House is not reserved as our’s to inherit after death, but is also a present reality.
In our Father’s House, we develop the way of faith.
In our Father’s House, we view the world with Him, in the way He intended this world to be.
God deposits a “Baby” on the world’s doorstep on that first Christmas Day so that our spirits, being stirred to live fully, will choose to give that Baby a place to live in our hearts. In this way, the world will be rescued from its present erratic journeying. Together let us journey to find that place anew, where Heaven and earth embrace. Then, as the Gospel record bears witness concerning the shepherds in the Christmas Story, we will return to our responsibilities glorifying and praising God.
1″ Come, let us anew our journey pursue,
Roll round with the year,
Roll round with the year,
And never stand still till the Master appear.
2.His adorable will let us gladly fulfill,
And our talents improve,
And our talents improve,
By the patience of hope, and the labor of love.
3.Our life is a dream, our time, as a stream,
Glides swiftly away,
Glides swiftly away,
And the fugitive moment refuses to stay”
3 O that each on the day of His coming may say,
“I have fought my way through,
I have fought my way through;
I have finished the work thou didst give me to do!”(3)
A Prayer to Follow This Meditation
Father, here on earth the necessity for Your people to journey forth into unchartered territory, is often met with two distinct attitudes. There is an uncertain reluctance, and there is an optimistic commitment.
Forgiveness we ask of You for the first, and unfettered praise we offer You for the second! The first is ours and is due to our lack of faith; the second is Yours and due to Your unconditional Love!
You responded to Moses’ reluctance to lead the journeying Israelites out of Egypt, with the heartwarming embrace:
” Certainly, I will be with you.”
When the disciples of Jesus were being overwhelmed with the prospect of being left to carry on Jesus’ Mission without their beloved Companion, He spoke with absolute certainty: Don’t be afraid, lo, I am with you always unto the end of the journey.
O Blessed Lord, another journey awaits us. No longer is the way unchartered because You have traveled the Way ahead of us. It is not easy to be a Christian now, and it never was. We make far too many compromises, and the milk and water version of our religion is no match for the militant forces of evil around us still. You understand our reluctance and our fears. Nevertheless, clear the eyes of faith, that we shall see. Open, our ears, that we may hear, ” Certainly, I will be with you all the way.” Open our hearts that we receive the Love as strong as steel, and determine to journey with You. Asking for no reward only to know we do Your Will. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
EDITORIAL NOTES:
1. All quotations of Scripture are from The NIV. The New
International Version of The Holy Bible; unless
otherwise noted in the text.
2. Robert Frost. ” Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy
Evening
“https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42891/stopping-by-woods-on-a-snowy-evening
3.Hymn: Come, Let Us Anew, The Journey Pursue
Source: Songs of Faith and Triumph 1, 2 and 3
https://hymnary.org/text/come_let_us_anew_our_journey_pursue_roll
Prayer: Franklin Curtis
Photo: “Caplin Seining” Leading Tickles, Newfoundland Summer 2017