Preparing for Christmas: Daily Meditations for Advent

This is not psychological worthiness; it is ontological, metaphysical and substantial, and cannot be gained or lost.

Once we know that God lives inside our contradictions, and God’s love is not dependent on our perfection, then other peoples’ contradictions don’t scandalize us or surprise us anymore.

The Spirit always connects, reconciles, forgives, heals and makes two into one. It moves beyond human-made boundaries to utterly realign and renew that which is separated and alienated.

If Jesus is the symbol of the gift itself and how God gives the gift, then Mary is the symbol of how the gift is received and treasured.

Mary’s “yes” was said in the darkness of faith. She was not certain, nor assured by any Scripture quote, doctrine or pope. She just heard what she heard, and did what God asked her to do, accepting the consequences.

He creates problems for us more than resolves them, problems that very often cannot be resolved by all-or-nothing thinking but only by love

Our Christian wisdom is to name the darkness as darkness, and the Light as light, and to learn how to live and work in the Light so that the darkness does not overcome us.

We are always the “stable” into which the Christ is born anew. All we can really do is keep our stable honest and humble, and the Christ will surely be born.

“the light shines on inside of the darkness, and the darkness will not overcome it” (1:5). Such is the Christian form of yin-yang, our own belief in paradox and mystery.