Christmas Day - the Implications of the Incarnation

 

"There were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock.   The angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. 

The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy for all people.  Today in the city of David a savior has been born for you, who is Messiah and Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace toward men of good will." 

Luke 2:8-14

“Only the humble believe him and rejoice that God is so free and so marvelous that he does wonders where people despair, that he takes what is little and lowly and makes it marvelous.  And that is the wonder of all wonders, that God loves the lowly. 

God is not ashamed of the lowliness of human beings. God marches right in.  He chooses people as his instruments and performs his wonders where one would least expect them.   God is near to lowliness; he loves the lost, the neglected, the unseemly, the excluded, the weak and broken.

In the Incarnation the whole human race recovers the dignity of the image of God. Thereafter, any attack, even on the least of men, is an attack on Christ, who took on the form of man, and in his own Person restored the image of God in all. 

Through our relationship with the Incarnation, we recover our true humanity, and at the same time are delivered from that perverse individualism which is the consequence of sin, and recover our solidarity with all mankind."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“Exiled from the earth, our Lord is born under the earth, for the stable was in a cave, and there he shook the earth to its very foundations.  Because he’s born in a cave, all who wish to see him must be bend, must stoop, the stoop is the mark of humility. 

The proud refuse to stoop. Therefore they miss divinity.  Those, however, who are willing to risk bending their egos to go into that cave, find that they are not in a cave at all; but they are in a universe where sits a babe on his mother’s lap, the babe who made the world.” 

Fulton Sheen

 

“We who have so much to do seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.  We who are anxious over many things look forward to your coming among us.  We who are blessed in so many ways long for the complete joy of your kingdom.  We whose hearts are heavy seek the joy of your presence.  We are your people, walking in darkness, yet seeking the light.

To you we say, 'Come Lord Jesus!'  The Lord is coming, always coming.  When you have ears to hear and eyes to see, you will recognize him at any moment of your life.  Life is Advent; life is recognizing the coming of the Lord.” 

Henri Nouwen

 

"He became what we are, that he might make us what he is."

Athanasius of Alexandria

 "Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this life, in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility;  So that, at the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal."

Book of Common Prayer

 

From all of us here, the young man, Daisy, and le vieux propriétaire, may the blessings of almighty God, descend upon you, and remain with you forever.

Joyeux noël, mes amis.

 

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Repentance and Forgiveness the Wellspring of Joy

Into the ancient holy land
Behold, the son of God is come to man.

Hoc est enim corpus meam.

In Innocence fall all heroes and their creeds;
An age is done, an age from here proceeds.

Hic est enim calix sanguinis mei,
Novi et aeterni testamenti.

What consuming pagan fires could not do—
A covenant of love, and Word made flesh, in You.

Qui pro nobis et pro multis effundetor;
In remissionem peccatorum.

Sleep swells His breast, though heavy pressed,
By Golgotha, and Adam's sin,
And the hopes of he who signs his name herein.

Jesse

What a wonderful condescension and extravagance we have from God.   For although we were made and formed in His image, He has thereafter sanctified that image, and thereby redeemed us from our failures in His Incarnation.

Greater love hath no man, than to lay down his life for his friends.

Stocks drifted today for the most part, particularly in the afternoon when most traders have already left for their holidays.

Gold and silver have rebounded nicely from the recent shenanigans practiced in the markets around the FOMC meeting and Non-Farm payrolls.  Again, I urge you to look at all the instances of this on the gold chart.

President Trump signed the Tax Reform and Jobs Act today, and then left for the holidays at his home in Florida.

Matt Taibbi had some rather pointed observations and disclosures to make about Bob Corker and his penchant for trading stocks as a Senator, presumably on privileged information, with multi-million dollar success. Of course he is not alone in this, as I have pointed out many times in the past.  Hillary's remarkable success as a novice cattle trader comes to mind.

The corruption that has become widely tolerated throughout the various upper strata of our society is shocking in its boldness.  And even more shocking is its general acceptability, and too often downright fashionability,  among our elite in business and government, and their courtiers and partisans in the various professions.  And it provides a corrosive example and temptation to the public.

That such gaming the system is widely tolerated and accepted does not make it right.  The breaking of oaths is a serious transgression, and there will be an accounting for it, if not in this world then the next. 

And sadly it is the partisanship, and the willing gullibility of simple souls given over to the wiles of a skillful persuasion to anger, and willfulness, and hatred, that permits the unscrupulous to prosper.   I have seen otherwise honorable and sincere people do and say some shocking things in service to dark powers in the past few years.

There can be little doubt that the ordinary and the unsophisticated are learning from our cynical and proud elite.  And that scandalous example is their sin as well.  It would be better for them to have been thrown into the sea, with a millstone around their necks.

All the preparations for Christmas are coming to their conclusion.

Looking back on this rather difficult year, I ask forgiveness of all those to whom I have caused distress or temptation to anger, because of my actions or lack of actions.

I have asked God for His forgiveness in all things, and so I also ask for your forgiveness, and your prayers.  I am a most unworthy servant.  I charge nothing and accept nothing, for that is what my work is worth.

May you and yours walk with the Lord, in His favor and the light of the Spirit, in all that you do in the coming year.

And may the peace of the Lord, which surpasses all understanding, be with you in this blessed season.

I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas.   I will be posting somewhat during the interregnum before the new year.

Have a wonderful holiday.