靈 修 小 品
(12/21/2008)
Food
for Thought: CHRISTMAS DOTS Cindy
Hong
 1…2…3…4…Who
knows how many activity sheets kids (and some adults) complete and color
in a given year. Yet as kiddish as these dots may be, they connect for
us a picture of Christmas and the child of Christmas. Like the number
1, the Christ-child is the starting place of our salvation. Without the
baby born in Bethlehem , there would be no subsequent death and resurrection
in Jerusalem . Without Christmas, we would have no Easter. And as we trace
the numbers, 14…15…16, a picture starts to form. So also as we follow
Jesus our lives form a picture of their own. Sometimes fuzzy, sometimes
with greater clarity, other times with stuff we either want to crop out
or photoshop in. Our dots may differ at times with the various challenges
God uses to form us: unemployment, health issues, loved ones dying, unforeseen
bills, conflicted relationships, and other fill-in-the-blank challenges.
And while we may assume it is Mary and Joseph in the picture here, when
Christ is born in us and His light kindled within us and shining through
us, it can just as easily be us in the picture with the baby Jesus. If
we trace these numbers to the end, we also see the big picture as it unfolds.
And the ending point is the same for all our pictures because in the end,
God wins. All glory is His and His alone. With Christ as our starting
and ending points, all the dots in between can be filled with joy and
peace, hope and love. The Christ of Christmas connects our dots and draws
a beautiful (perhaps not perfect in our finite thinking) picture, the
present reality of Jesus Christ living in and with us. This Christmas,
may we gaze at Jesus with child-like wonder, hearts filled with joy at
the salvation and victory He brings. 40…41…42…
God
wins. Merry Christmas, indeed.
聖誕節和連結數字
湯貴嫦
一‧‧‧二‧‧‧三‧‧‧四‧‧‧誰知每年有多少小孩子﹙也有大人﹚會玩這個充滿孩子氣的連結數字遊戲。但這些好像很小的圓點，若把它們連接起來，便帶出一幅聖誕節和聖嬰出生的圖畫了。就好像「一」代表基督：嬰孩是救恩的起點。如果耶穌不生在伯利恆，就不會有在耶路撒冷的釘死和復活。沒有聖誕節也不會有復活節。如果我們繼續再把十四‧‧‧十五‧‧‧十六‧‧‧連起來，就會看到圖畫漸漸形成，正如我們在跟隨耶穌時，我們特殊的生命圖樣便形成。這個圖樣有時候朦朦朧朧，但有時卻清晰清澈。但很多時候，我們很想用電腦軟件去增刪或修改。我們生命中不同的圓點是神用來挑戰與塑造我們：失業、健康問題、親人離世、突如其來的賬單，衝突的關係和其他請您填上的片斷。所以雖然我們認為馬利亞和約瑟就在這圖片中，但當基督誕生在我們中間而祂的光就在裏面照透我們生命並發光時，就像在小耶穌基督誕生這圖晝中。如果我們把這數字連結一直到盡頭，就可看到整幅大圖畫，一片片的展示出來。每個圖片的最後一點都是一模一樣，因為最終的一點就是我們那位得勝的神！所有榮耀都只歸給衪，獨一的神！既然主耶穌是我們生命的起迄點，那我們的生命所有的小圓點都可以是充滿喜樂、平安、盼望和仁愛。這「聖誕節」的基督會把我們小圓點連結起成為一幅美麗的圖畫。
( 雖然以我們有限的視野會感到這個圖畫並不完美 ) ，但耶穌就真的住在我們中間，與我們常常同在。在這個聖誕節，讓我們像單純天真小孩子一樣凝視在耶穌身上，因神的救恩和勝利而充滿喜樂。四十‧‧‧四十一‧‧‧四十二‧‧‧神戰勝一切，真的，聖誕快樂。
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