PASTOR'S CORNER

In the land of beginning again Luke 2:1-10
One night the six o'clock news financial reporter said, among other
things, "The stock market gained today, and the value of the dollar is up."
Hearing this, a seven year old asked her father what it meant when the value of
the dollar went up. The father tried to give his young daughter the simplest
possible explanation.
He said, "Since the value is going up, you can buy more with a dollar now
than you could before." The daughter thought about this for a while, then
asked, "Do the stores know this?"
In just a few weeks, we will be celebrating the Event that raised the
value of our human hopes and our aspirations infinitely. But as we look towards
the weeks of preparation for this Event, we might well ask, not only "Do the
stores know this?" but also "Do we know this?"
The world around us will soon be filled with Christmas sounds. If you
listen with your outer ear, you will hear carols and bells and laughter, and
now and then, perhaps a sob. If you listen with your inner ear you will hear
the vibrant whisper of the eternal world.
The world will be filled with the sights of Christmas. If you look with
your outer eyes you will see tinseled trees, glowing candles, blinking stars
and perhaps, even a cardboard nativity scene. If you look with your inner eyes
you will see the light of love in your own heart.
In his autobiography, author John Stuart Mill says that his father
recognized he was a very gifted child and proceeded to cram his head with all
sorts of knowledge. However, since he had no religious faith of his own, the
father would not allow anything religious to become part of his son's education.
Years later, after he had achieved fame and fortune, John Stuart Mill
looked back on his education with a deep sense of loss. His mind was crammed
with information,
but his soul was starved. He said in his autobiography, "I was left at the
commencement of my voyage with a well-equipped shipSbut no sail."
I have no doubt that at least some of us can identify with John Stuart
Mill's complaint: "a well-equipped shipSbut no sail." We need something to push
up the value of our hopes and dreams. We need something to push us up and over
the waves of emptiness that keep pounding our bored and dreary souls. We need
something to give us a new life.
We need something to get us sailing again toward genuine Christian life- goals.

In the poetic words of Louise Fletcher:
"I wish that there were some wonderful place
called "The land of Beginning Again,"
Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches
And all of our poor selfish grief, could be dropped
like a shabby old coat at the door,
And never be put on again."

It is said, the season of Advent is like a divine bridge between God and
humanity.
Advent is a time when we look back into our human history, into God's
history, seeing how God kept on bridging that relationship between us with
loving promises even when we went astray. The birth of the Christ child became
the most accessible bridge, the most intimate gift that God could give us. And
Christmas comes inviting us into that relationship, that "Land of Beginning
Again." May you all have a wonderful Advent and Christmas season, and feel the
joy that God brings to all. God Bless.
Glædelig Jul,
Merry Christmas

Your friend and pastor,
Pastor Samuel King-Kabu
Pastor@st-ansgars-montreal.ca

Web Page prepared by:
Roger Kenner & Jette Blair.
Content-New Topics Last Updated: 2003/12/11
St. Ansgar's Lutheran Church - Montreal