Christmas, a time to welcome the creator of the world

Certainly, scientific truth and the resulting technology has lifted us out of all kinds of poverty, but the one poverty it has not overwhelmed is the poverty of the spirit that gives birth to dread and fear and their consequence, despair.

The images from the James Webb telescope only contribute to our inconsequential existence. However, the creation of this telescope, sitting in a gravity well created by the earth, the moon and the sun, a million miles from earth and collecting images from near the beginning of time, is a wonder. Its creation speaks to humanity sharing in the creative powers of God.

Karl Barth, in his first volume on Creation states that "The aim of creation is history". In other words, the aim of creation is not a thing but the continuity of human history towards its fulfillment in the kingdom of God/heaven. Do not look for the work of God in nature, His fingerprints will not be found in the rocks or the DNA or in geological eras. God reveals himself in history, the history of Israel, of Jesus and of the Church.

There is the danger here of a rift opening between nature and grace. If the purpose of creation is history does that not leave nature, the universe, out of the relationship between God and humanity? For all our wonder of the beauty and the terror of the natural world, natural science will tell us that the whole box and dice is the result of chains of cause and effect. Nature proceeds in its process without regard to humanity.

The answer to this dilemma is that the Word became flesh, ie part of the natural world. What could be more significant than to be born among the animals in a stable? The world is the setting for incarnation and, as such, shares the love of the Father: For the Father so loved the world.." It is true that the world is the sphere of cause and effect, but it is also an essential part of the redemption of all humankind.

This Christmas, as we observe the child in the manger, the shepherds in the fields, the magi on their journey guided by a star, the wrath of Herod, we see a narrative of the creation of a new world of light and love that we believe will overcome the world that we know so well, the world of darkness and death.

Have a blessed Christmas.