Dear People of St. John’s,

         It sometimes appears there’s no more room in our overly busy lives for all the things we want to put into them, much less for whatever someone else might wish to place in them.  I was rather amazed to read the report recently of a study conducted by a major university that said feelings of isolation and loneliness have increased in our country.  We have more devices and gadgets for communication than ever in human history, but we continue to battle loneliness.  Busyness and connecting with other human beings in some life-affirming way is not the same thing. 

     Clergy and clergy families can feel that loneliness and isolation sometimes. That reality can be a part of the profession, if the clergy, clergy spouse, and clergy family are not aware of it and take positive steps to overcome it.  Shirley and I are so very grateful that St. John’s is a warm, caring place and you have gone above and beyond the call of duty to show us that this is our home and we are part of the community. 

     Being in a rush can be part of the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Epiphany cycle.  We have to guard against over-extending and holiday burn-out during the “holiday season.”  The days during November, December, and January have only 24 hours, just like the lazy days of summer, but we tend to rush from one busy point to the next and sometimes we must go around, over, or through another equally busy person.  Life often becomes a test of how well we can handle a constant rush hour.  Talk shows usually have a program or two about “dealing with the holiday stress.”  We catch a word or two of the advice as we move from one holiday chore to the next.

     So, where does that leave us as we prepare to remember anew the birth of the one called Jesus the Christ?

     The message of Christmas, the point of it all, is that “the Light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never put it out.”  In our busy, rushed, “no room” lives God offers a gift.  A Light that can and does illumine whatever the dark places are in our hearts.  Our grief, our hopes, our loneliness, our frustration, our pain, our fears, whatever our needs, are made more bearable because the Light of the world enters, by invitation, and we do not need to bear anything alone ever again.

     As we make our journey again to the manger of God Incarnate, all we have to offer is the one gift He wants most---our hearts.  In return, God places in our busy, rushed, “no room” lives His light and His peace.  That assurance means that even in our busyness we can never go where God is not.

     God chose to reveal Himself in an ordinary, yet miraculous, way.  He came in the form of a baby, born in a stable-cave, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a hay bin, surrounded by a few creatures.  Babies have been born in much nicer surroundings; some have been born under much worse conditions.  The miracle for us is that this baby contains within Himself the absolute love of the universe.  It is a universe overflowing with the potential for goodness and love.  If we are to live into that potential and experience that absolute love in a personal way we must go “even unto Bethlehem and see this thing that the Lord has made known unto us.”

     Shirley joins me in wishing each of you a most joyous Christmas and a New Year filled with the awareness of the presence of Almighty God.  Remember as you scurry through this time of year to stop once in a while to give thanks to God for the “Light that shines in the darkness.”

                                                                     Peace,

                                                                            Tom