The Christian Community in North America

Between Heaven and Earth

Sunset from space At sunset, the sun is midway between heaven and earth. Its light hits us in the middle and is warm and full of color. The sun is not too high as to burn our eyes with its light, and not too low as to be swallowed up by the earth. At sunset, the sun is the balance point between heaven and earth.

Within each one of our hearts there is also a sun, an inner sun.
But from time to time, it gets too high, too far away from the earth and its light, our ideals—can burn us, burn others around us with its harshness and judgment…

Preparing to Embody Christmas: A Journey through the Threefold Act of Consecration of Man and the Holy Nights

Duccio_di_Buoninsegna_Birth We come to the Act of Consecration of Man because it holds within it a richness and depth we can work with and be nourished by our whole lives. It is a gift which in itself is full and complete. But then, imagine a gift so precious and great that it cannot be fully given in one Act of Consecration of Man… in the festival of Christmas, something wants to be given to the human being from the spiritual world, a gift that can give us strength for the coming year: the renewed birth of the Child in our hearts.

Beginning Christmas night, we are given the living reenactment of the descent of Christ out of the heavens into our earthly human sphere—for Christ descends anew into our hearts, asking to be born there and thereby born anew on earth. We know it is a poor shed into which we receive Him, but we kindle a light there with our attention and our hope, and He comes!

Words for the Newtown Tragedy

For so long humanity has used the sun to guide its way on long journeys. And as striving Christians we too are on a long journey. And on this journey, we are called to put our faith in the sun of what is truly human, to guide our way.

But as everyone knows, the sun sets. Its light goes dark. The tragic events at the elementary school in Connecticut are a picture of the sunlight of our humanity growing dark.

And what can one say in the face of such darkness; such a tragedy? Political debates and discussions about independence and freedom seem out of place and opportunistic. Psychological analysis feels lacking. Even philosophizing about God and the problem of evil seems to take us away from bearing the pain, simply feeling the sadness of the tragedy. Sometimes things happen where silent prayer is the only response.

And even still…. it is true that we are in a battle. Our battle, however, is not with human beings but with spiritual beings and forces that do not believe in the human being. Forces and spiritual beings that work in us, that work in the world that want the sun of our humanity to grow dark.

And so we must fight. But not with aggression and outer weapons, our weapons must be weapons of the active human spirit. We fight with our capacity to endure: courageously enduring together the darkness when it comes. We fight with the weapon of trust; deep trust and understanding that the sun of our humanity is still there even at night, even when the lights go out. And if we have the eyes to see, there were also powerful deeds of sacrifice and love at Sandy Hook. The sun was still there even in the dark.

In this way, we join the ranks of those spiritual beings that do believe in what is human; those spiritual beings that would seek with HIS strength and HIS love to lead us more and more to what we can become.

Rev. Jonah Evans

December 20, 2012/3 Comments/by CCNA

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