Christmas Greetings!
Hello everyone,
Christmas is only two days away and we probably all find ourselves in a busy holiday period, gearing up for Wednesday. Of course there is a tension that we face, isn't there? The spirit of the Christmas feast is a good thing; celebrating the arrival of the Logos made flesh, Jesus Christ. But in our drive to make it a 'perfect day' we can risk missing the point. I at least find myself living somewhere in this tension!
Last month's 'Mead and Meaning' was a real joy. It is great to see these online meetups going from strength to strength. In 2025 we hope to be looking at meeting up in person. Last week Ryan shared some of the symbolic patterns present across scripture and the tradition. Who knew Mount Sinai and the humble Christmas tree had so much in common? This then brought us to the Nativity icon by Rublev. Our next 'Mead and Meaning' will be on 21st January 7pm GMT. In the meantime, I'll see you over on the discussion section.
Over the day's following our chat and hearing all of your thoughts I was left thinking particularly about the striking historical reality of Christmas and the incarnation, which leads me back to this famous quote by St Athansius. Before reading the saint's words I benefit from thinking way back to the Garden of Eden. Christmas gives us the solution to the problem of the fall in the Christ, the New Adam. Here we see the new or everlasting man, as G.K. Chesteron wrote.
"For the Son of God became man so that we might become God."― St. Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation
With warmest Christmas wishes,
Oliver
Amen! Thank you for sharing Oliver and thank you for all you and Ryan do here in this group. It's such a blessing to have found this community and I appreciate all the enlightenment and encouragement provided within it.
All of the conversations thus far have been so fruitful and I look forward to the new year ahead.
And praise God for the arrival of His son and our Savior, the Lord Jesus!
After a dark, cold winter singing "O' Come, o' come Emmanuel," looking forward to celebrating and commemorating His arrival tomorrow 🙏