Faith | Cats | Hope | Grace

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

This Gospel reading is one of my favorites and is probably a cornerstone of my own theology. For years, I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was about this passage. There was the definite poetry in the language. I think English translations helped emphasize that beauty. Then there’s the attachment to the services where we get to hear this reading—most recently the Christmas Eve service and Christmas I. But as I’ve sat with it more, I think what stirs my heart with this reading is how it touches on the eternal, the out-of-timeness of God and Christ. Their collective presence has been a fact since the beginning of all things.

Another point of this piece of the Gospel that calls to me is the essentialness of Christ in creation. “All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.” You can spend hours or days contemplating what “through him” means. Is God the Creator the architect and Jesus the building blocks? Is the reality of creation an ebb and flow between God and Christ? There’s value in reflecting on this, but I don’t think we necessarily need an answer, or at least a definitive one. The core for me is the togetherness and mutuality of God and the Word in creation. It also speaks to the relationship of God and the Word. A relationship apart from us humans. But a relationship that we as humans are invited to experience.

“What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.”

Life and light. Two things that came through the Word. We have been given a light in the world to brighten our paths as well as to enlighten the profound love we have been shown by the Creator. And that enlightening happened through Incarnation. Through the taking on of human flesh. To become one of us and live among us. The humans we are created to be were a worthy vessel for the Word. Who and what we are was and continues to be worthy of the divine presence. Even when we deny him. Even when we fail to see and recognize him. Even in our failings and foibles, we get to experience the divine presence. God with us.

“Grace upon grace.”

These three words make me catch my breath every time I hear them. We have been and continue to be shown grace upon grace. That grace is eternal and out of all time. It began when God spoke the world into being. It continued when the Word became life and light in the world. That grace continued when the Word came to live among us to demonstrate the love we have been shown. It continues with the movement of the Spirit in the world. Grace at the beginning and grace throughout our histories. Grace upon grace upon grace.

Amen