The Joy of Gizmo

Gizmo is the name of our little dog, a cross between a cavalier King Charles spaniel and a Pekingese. He weighs only 12 lbs. and is now 12 years old. With our daughter and son long out of the nest, Gizmo is family and for many years has effortlessly filled the void left by our children's departures off to college years ago. Among his many virtues, the most amazing may be that he has never failed to give us a tremendous welcome every time we come home. It is a hero's welcome, a long-lost lover's welcome, a loved one-come-back-from-the-dead welcome. He never fails to demonstrate an enormous joy upon our arrival back home. What a blessing is ours in his simple, effusive response of excitement and delight by our presence.

Gizmo reminds me of the unreserved, irrepressible joy of the father in Christ's parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-31). Of course, the father in the parable is metaphor for our heavenly Father whose joy is occasioned by our response to his grace in our prayer, reading the Word, and in engagement in acts of mercy in his name. How incredible is life with Gizmo who without knowing it helps us remember the love of God and the joy he has when we come into his presence and open ourselves up to his welcome once again.

JSR

Looking back and facing forward . . .

It's over and it begins. It is time for the annual changing of the guard. Once again it is time to take down the 2010 and put up the 2011 calendars. January is upon us once again. The month of January is named after the ancient Roman god, Janus, the god with two faces, one facing back and the other facing forward. In the act of taking down the old calendar we look back on 2010 with a degree of sober reflection and look forward with hope.

2010 has been a challenging year for the world from the earthquake in Haiti to the aberrant, hostile behaviour of North Korea and the crazy weather around the world which creates snow deluges, mud slides, flooding, and accompanying sequella. Nevertheless, through it all, we remain alive, blessed, and in remembrance. We appreciate God's grace and faithfulness. In looking forward into the future, we know that God's faithfulness is constant and while 2011 will bring its challenges, it also brings promise and occasions hope.

The New Year is a time of remembrance and promise. We celebrate the past, its moments of grace and blessing with an anticipation of grace and blessing still to come. We remember that in the good times and the bad, God is present and his love sustains us. The affections that characterize our lives in Christ continue into the new year: "a living faith, an expectant hope, and a humble love of God and one's neighbor" (see Henry Knight, The Presence of God in the Christian Life, p. 96).

For me personally, looking back and then forward occasions resolve (resolutions): 1) to pay more attention to God being more aware of his presence and deepening my understanding of his identity in Christ; 2) to intentionally nurture my faith and counter dissipation of faith by spending more time in communion/communication with God in prayer and reading of Scripture; 3) to more intentionally engage in acts of kindness and mercy with an increased sensitivity to the needs of others and a deepened capacity to love others in practical ways. In short, I hope to be more faithful to Christ's Great Commandment to love the Lord with all I've got and my neighbor, broadly speaking, as myself. How is this possible? By faith I know that God in Christ by the Holy Spirit both enables and invites us to do so, and to do so in response to his faithfulness and grace is pleasing to God.

My prayer for you for 2011 is that you will not merely have a Happy New Year. I hope your year will be a blessed one filled with meaning and purpose, because of your resolve to respond to the grace you continue to receive. May your life throughout 2011 be filled with joy and pleasing to God.

JSR

Christmas: Christ in us, hope!

Christmas! What comes to mind this year, or rather what keeps coming to mind? At this time of year, the Biblical idea that keeps coming to mind for me is Jesus as Emmanuel, God with us! Back in the day (his life on earth) that meant literally God present in human form, the Incarnation. Today our orthodoxy speaks to Emmanuel, God with us, as a reality we understand as the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit. He is not only with us, but for people of faith he is in us. That is an incredible blessing, an ultimate proximity, his infilling presence.

This past Sunday, the fourth advent Sunday, we were blessed by the Bakerview Church's choir and a string quartet rendering Handel's Messiah. It was a celestial rendition. On either side of the choir hung four Christmas banners, one each for each advent Sunday, proclaiming Love, Peace, Joy, and Hope. It is the Hope banner that also stayed with me. It is the other theme that keeps coming to mind this Christmas: God with us and hope. So what's with Emmanuel, Christ with us, and Hope. Here's the integrative message in the juxtaposynthesis of the two: The Presence of Christ in us gives us the wonderful gift of Hope. It is a both/and kind of hope, both a hope in the now and a hope in the then of eternity. With a living faith there is an expectant hope grounded in the continual awareness that Christ is alive in us and we live now in his presence. The gift of the Christ child in the manger back then is a gift that keeps on giving today. Remembering the Father's gift of his Son, the Son's gift of his life on the cross, and of himself as the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, we remember that God is faithful and keeps his promises. This evokes hope in the future and in the Kingdom, a Kingdom of grace here and now and the coming Kingdom of glory yet to come, both the same Kingdom of God.

While the culture seems constantly to be pulling away from rich, deeply meaningful reflections on Christmas toward an increasingly superficial celebration of the holidays, I feel blessed by the continual reminders this year of "Emmanuel" and "Hope." I believe God keeps laying these on my consciousness. This then begs the questions: "What keeps popping-up in your mind these special days and what might God be saying to you this season?" Think about it. Perhaps slow down, reflect, take a deep breath, and be aware. Be assured. God is not silent. Listen and be blessed once again! Merry Christmas!

JSR