It has been a good few months since I offered up a blog, mostly because I find the esoteric and exoteric do not mix so well, but I would be remiss in not mentioning our beautiful new altar painting, by Wilfred Ogilvie. Hopefully Felix will have a chance to post a picture of this painting, as words fail to describe the depth of feeling that this picture evokes. One can only describe it as awe-inspiring and reverential. How were we so lucky to be gifted with such a painting? One can only say, it is a miracle - a gift from God. Was it my imagination that the Act of Consecration was spoken a little more softly this Sunday? With a little more reverence? Perhaps. This is truly a painting that we can work with in manifesting the Holy Spirit. Still in this mood, as I was driving to work this morning, a rendition of the following song by Whitney Houston was playing on the radio. I want to offer the words here, and in doing so, ask those of us who are familiar with Goethe's Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily to consider these words, and ask what can contemplation of these words bring:
Do You Hear What I Hear? Said the night wind to the little lamb, do you see what I see Way up in the sky, little lamb, do you see what I see A star, a star, dancing in the night With a tail as big as a kite With a tail as big as a kite Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy, do you hear what I hear Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy, do you hear what I hear A song, a song, high above the trees With a voice as big as the sea With a voice as big as the sea Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king, do you know what I know In your palace warm, mighty king, do you know what I know A Child, a Child shivers in the cold Let us bring Him silver and gold Let us bring Him silver and gold Said the king to the people everywhere, listen to what I say Pray for peace, people everywhere! listen to what I say The Child, the Child, sleeping in the night He will bring us goodness and light He will bring us goodness and light We all experience at this time of year the hastening of time, faster and faster, like a vortex, until midnight of Christmas Eve. If you have a chance to attend the midnight service, one can feel the oh so deep hesitation in the movement of time - the feeling that something cosmically important is happening - before time resumes. As we in The Christian Community know, this is the beginning of the 12 Holy Nights. In times past, it was much easier to hold this time in thought. In modern times, it is much harder to hold this time in our consciousness. People are so tired of Christmas by the time it arrives thanks to all the marketing, that the tree comes down straight away on Boxing Day. How sad!! This is in fact only the beginning of Christmas! Wishing everyone a Blessed Christmas. Sparky
