INNER LIGHT

GOD'S CANDLES

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God, light tall candles in my heart.
Make every dim-lit space
So glowing that no evil thing
Can find a hiding place.
God, light tall candles in my heart.
Lest I should fail to see
That Thy Word is the cup of strength
For all humanity.
Burn brightly, candles in my heart...
No soul has ever trod
Earth's twisted way in faith without

Deeper inner light from God.
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Gertude Hanson

MAKING A MERRY FEAST

The Victorians at rest after Christmas Dinner

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MARY'S SONG

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And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour"

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(Luke 1:46-47)

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Observe, this morning, the sacred joy of Mary that you may imitate it. This is a season when all men expect us to be joyous. We compliment each other with the desire that we may have a "Merry Christmas." Some Christians who are a little squeamish, do not like the word "merry." It is a right good old Saxon word, having the joy of childhood and the mirth of manhood in it, it brings before one's mind the old song of the waits, and the midnight peal of bells, the holly and the blazing log. I love it for its place in that most tender of all parables, where it is written, that, when the long-lost prodigal returned to his father safe and sound, "They began to be merry." This is the season when we are expected to be happy; and my heart's desire is, that in the highest and best sense, you who are believers may be "merry." Mary's heart was merry within her; but here was the mark of her joy, it was all holy merriment, it was every drop of it sacred mirth. It was not such merriment as world lings will revel in to-day and to-morrow, but such merriment as the angels have around the throne, where they sing, "Glory to God in the highest," while we sing "On earth peace, goodwill towards men." Such merry hearts have a continual feast. I want you, ye children of the bride-chamber, to possess to-day and to-morrow, yea, all your days, the high and consecrated bliss of Mary, that you may not only read her words, but use them for yourselves, ever experiencing their meaning: "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savour."
"Now a happy Christmas to you all; and it will be a happy Christmas if you have God with you. I shall say nothing to day against festivities on this great birthday of Christ. We will to-morrow think of Christ's birthday; we shall be obliged to do it, I am sure, however sturdily we may hold to our rough Puritanism. And so, 'let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.' Do not feast as if you wished to keep the festival of Bacchus; do not live to-morrow as if you adored some heathen divinity. Feast, Christians, feast; you have a right to feast. Go to the house of feasting to-morrow, celebrate your Saviour's birth; do not be ashamed to be glad; you have a right to be happy. Solomon says, 'Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works. Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.'
"Religion never was designed to make your pleasures less."
Recollect that your Master ate butter and honey. Go your way, rejoice tomorrow, but in your feasting, think of the Man in Bethlehem; let him have a place in your hearts, give him the glory, think of the virgin who conceived him, but think most of all of the Man born, the Child given. I finish by again saying, ---"A HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL"
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Charles Hodges Spurgeon

THAT TIME OF YEAR

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MY CHRISTMAS WISH

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In these parts Christmas Eve has delivered a seasonal frost and freezing fog creating an atmosphere that Dickens himself would heartily approve of ! Its the time of year again when the calendar nudges our thoughts in the direction of that birth so long ago in Bethlehem, the beginning of a remarkable life who would profoundly impact on every generation thereafter. As the Scripture succinctly recounts the event, “ Mary brought forth her firstborn Son…and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:7) Of course that was not the whole story and Jesus grew to manhood when He went about preaching the Good News of the Kingdom , gathering a few followers who recognised His uniqueness but did not always understand His mission. That mission culminated at the cross where the sinless Lamb of God offered Himself as our substitute. The helpless babe in the manger became the suffering victim of Calvary, all to rescue you and I and a world plunged into darkness. For three days and nights Jesus’ followers were themselves in a dark and confused place as they pondered the dashing of their dream of Messiah . But while Jesus finished the work of redemption on the cross , death could not hold Him and He rose again and lives today. So as I wish all readers of the Dew a Happy Christmas , let’s remember that behind all the tinsel and religious cant there is One who loves us, who is only a prayer away and longs to become a part of our everyday lives.
Many have breezed in and out of these pages over the last year , most leaving no trace of their visit, but some brave and sturdy souls have stopped and passed comment and even left a name! To you, the brave named .… Tony, Leonardo, Antoin, Noreen, Mike, Joy, Philip, Deirdre, Lucinda, Alec, Lisa, Ralph, Trevor, Cathy, Brian Mc, Elf Girl, Kevin, Jim, Martin, Peter, Chris, Beneus, Aoife, Sundas, Madusa, Siobhan, Richard, Dominic, Kay, John, Propac, Garrett, Mandy, Pete, Joe, Rachel, Tim, Sam, Bogisha, Sarah, Doug, Therese, Julian, Matthias, Hapi, Jake, Liam, Eamon, Derek, Firieth, Harry and of course my old friend (or friends ) Anonymous ! I say a special thanks and I look forward to more of your feedback in 2010.
During the year the piece that drew most comment was the account of the arrest of a Christian couple in the UK who witnessed to a Muslim lady staying at their hotel. The lady took offence at their remarks about Islam and pressed charges (Oct 23). A review of U2’s latest album (March 1) came in at number two while a visit to Limerick New Testament Church (August 31) vied with the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandal (January 12) as the third most commented on blog during the last twelve months.
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Gerard O'Shea

LOVE CAME DOWN AT CHRISTMAS

WHEN LOVE OVERCAME POWER

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Christmas shatters any idea that God is some kind of vengeful tyrant bent on smiting any who fail to live up to His expectations. The image of a harsh, punishing deity is contradicted when we discover that our God was incarnated in a baby in Bethlehem's manger.What we realize with the birth of Jesus is that God is a loving person who was willing to give up power in order to express His love. At Christmas we are reminded, as it says in the second chapter of Philippians, that the same God who had the power to toss the galaxies into outer space and set electrons spinning in inner space loved us enough to set aside all that power in order to show that love.
Soren Kierkegaard, the nineteenth-century theologian and philosopher, once told the story of a prince who had fallen in love with a peasant girl. This prince knew that if he presented himself to her with all of his royal trappings, she would be overawed by him. His power and majesty would render her incapable of freely choosing to love him. Knowing this, the prince took off his royal garments, set aside his crown, and dressed himself as a peasant. He became a peasant in her eyes, so that in this guise she could choose to love him or not, for his own sake.
So it was with God at that first Christmas. If He had not been willing to put His power "on hold," loving Him would be impossible. We would not have the freedom needed to choose love if our God powerfully controlled everything. If all that we thought and did was under the control of His power, then love, freely given, would not be possible.
Sociologists who have studied personal relationships have long known that power and love cannot be simultaneously expressed. In any relationship, they point out, the person who has the most power is the one expressing the least love. Consider a married couple in which the wife loves her husband intensely, but he could not care less about continuing the marriage. Which of them has the most power? He does, of course. Her love has made her vulnerable to being exploited. Love does that! That is why Fredrick Nietzsche, the father of modern atheistic existentialism, sneered at love as he exalted "the will to power."The good news is that 2,000 years ago, our God showed us His love by emptying Himself of power and coming into the world as a vulnerable infant child. The scandalous declaration of Christians is that the Bethlehem child is none other than the creator God, having become one of us. There is no greater love than this!

Sometimes it is hard to want a God who, for love, gives up His power. There are situations in which we might prefer a God with limitless power. When cancer strikes, or when evil enemies threaten, most of us, like the Psalmist, want a God who uses His power to provide deliverance and make things right. But we can't have it both ways. Either we have a God who exercises limitless power or a God who limits His power so that love might live in His heart and in ours. God is love! That love has made Him vulnerable. We see that in the life of Jesus. That vulnerability was made brilliantly clear on Calvary. The Bible says that on the cross "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself." On the cross we see how far God's love will go. He was willing to die an agonizing death rather than have those He loves endure harsh condemnation.
From Bethlehem to Calvary, we learn that God is not a condemning God, but a friend to sinners. In Scripture we read, "There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." This Christmas, be thankful for the God who comes to us in weakness because He loves; a God who annihilates any belief that He is a harsh and vindictive deity. His coming to us in Jesus is all the proof we need that in His love He wills peace on earth and good will for us all.
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Tony Campolo

A WINTER WONDER

The road outside my house this morning

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Snowfall may be a routine event in some parts of the world but here in Ireland it is still noteworthy news. This morning I woke up to a changed landscape , crisp underfoot and dazzling to behold ! As Deirdre observed in a comment this sudden whitening of the place has lifted spirits considerably (unless you’re planning a journey!) and so especially for her and anyone else whose heart is cheered by snow, here is a poem on the subject from Robert Frost. ~GOSh.~

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Stopping By Woods

On A Snowy Evening

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Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

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My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

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He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

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The woods are lovely, dark and deep.

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

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Robert Frost

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A CHRISTMAS GARLAND

Let Christmas not become a thing

Merely of merchant's trafficking,

Of tinsel, bell and holly wreath

And surface pleasure, but beneath

The childish glamour, let us find

Nourishment for soul and mind.

Let us follow kinder ways

Through our teeming human maze,

And help the age of peace to come

From a Dreamer's martyrdom

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Madeline Morse

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The message of Christmas is that the visible material world

is bound to the invisible spiritual world.

I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.

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Charles Dickens
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The Church does not superstitiously observe days, merely as days, but as memorials of important facts. Christmas might be kept as well upon one day of the year as another; but there should be a stated day for commemorating the birth of our Saviour, because there is danger that what may be done on any day, will be neglected

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Samuel Johnson
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I stopped believing in Santa Claus when my mother took me to see him in a department store, and he asked for my autograph.

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Shirley Temple
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In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it 'Christmas' and went to church; the Jews called it 'Hanukkah' and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say 'Merry Christmas!' or 'Happy Hanukkah!' or (to the atheists) 'Look out for the wall!'
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Dave Barry
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Fail not to call to mind, in the course of the twenty-fifth of this month, that the Divinest Heart that ever walked the earth was born on that day; and then smile and enjoy yourselves for the rest of it; for mirth is also of Heaven's making.
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Leigh Hunt
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Whatever else be lost among the years, Let us keep Christmas still a shining thing: Whatever doubts assail us, or what fears, Let us hold close one day, remembering Its poignant meaning for the hearts of men. Let us get back our childlike faith again.

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Grace Noll Crowell
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There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.

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Erma Bombeck

A MEAGRE CHRISTMAS

A young Lewis posing with

bearded seasonal visitor on donkey !

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COLD NORTHERN CHEER

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Our earliest description of Christmas from writer C.S. Lewis is a bitter one. The year was 1922. As usual, C.S. Lewis and his brother Warren spent the holidays with their widowed father in his big house outside Belfast.
"It was a dark morning with a gale blowing and some very cold rain," Lewis reported in his diary. Their father Albert awakened his two sons, both in their mid twenties, to go to early Communion service. As they walked to church in the dawn light, they started discussing the time of sunrise. Albert irritated his sons by insisting that the sun had already risen or else they would not have any light. He was an illogical and argumentative man.
Saint Mark's church was intensely cold. Warren wanted to keep his coat on during the service, and his father disapproved. "Well, at least you won't keep it on when you go up to the Table," Albert warned. Warren asked why not and was told that taking Communion with a coat on was "most disrespectful." Warren took his coat off to avoid an argument. Not one of the three Lewis men had any interest in the meaning of Communion. The two sons hadn't believed in Christianity for years.
"Christmas dinner, a rather deplorable ceremony, at quarter to four", Lewis continued in his diary. After dinner the rain had stopped at last, and Albert urged his two sons to take a walk. They were delighted to get out into the fresh air and head for a pub where they could get a drink. Before they came to the pub, however, some relatives drove by on the way to their house for a visit and gave them an unwelcome ride right back home.
After too much sitting and talking and eating and smoking all day in the stuffy house, Lewis went to bed early, dead tired and headachy. He felt like a flabby, lazy teenager again. ...
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from 'Christianity Today'