Word to the Wise
Wednesday, January 3, 2007 - Christmas Weekday
[1 John 2:29-36 and John 1:29-34]See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God.
Children play a prominent role in the Christmas season. We start with the birth of Jesus, of course, but we often hear the expression, "Christmas is for the children!" Perhaps we adults like to think that we have "put away the things of a child." Yet Jesus says that we must accept the kingdom like a little child. Today's first scripture from the First Letter of John speaks of our status as "children of God." St. Paul also speaks of our "adoption" as children of God. Any parent knows how profoundly they feel about their children, and all of us know how profoundly we feel about parents! Yet the analogy of parent-child relationships, when used to describe the relationship with God, can make us uncomfortable. This may be due to disfunctional family matters or cultural influences or some other factor. It may be useful to ask why we feel the way we do about the analogy, since scripture presents it as a desirable state of affairs. It is, after all, presented as an analogy of love. When I witnessed the love of my friends, Craig and Christina Baker, for their newborn daughter, Lucy Danielle, at her baptism and at home, I couldn't help but appreciate God's love for me and for all! If we are going to pray "the Lord's prayer" honestly, we have to remember the opening words are: "Our Father!" AMEN 1 Joh
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