In The Beginning
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.The Word was with God in the beginning. Everything came into being through the Word, and without the Word, nothing came into being. What came into being through the Word was life, and the life was the light for all people.The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness doesn’t extinguish the light. The Word became flesh and made his home among us. We have seen his glory, glory like that of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. From his fullness we have all received grace upon grace.
—John 1:1-5,14,16
The message of Christmas is loud and clear: God chose to show us once again what it means to be created in the image of God, Word made flesh dwelling within and among us, now and forever.
Grace upon grace.
Somehow, humanity forgets and distorts that beautiful image. Sometimes, I picture God shaking God’s head and saying, “My children, my children! When will you ever learn?!”
God in Jesus came into an imperfect world, a world of injustice, discrimination, and violence. God still enters an imperfect world, one still fraught with injustice, discrimination, and violence. And God asks us what are we going to do to work toward bringing hope, peace, joy and love into the world? How are we building the peaceable kin-dom, the “beloved community” we read of in the scriptures and the Christmas narrative?
Several mornings a week, I sit in the historic sacred space of Wightman Chapel on Scarritt Bennett Center’s campus, and I think about the ancestors who have gone before me. Those who learned, worshipped, prayed, and traveled around the world working for justice, teaching, and sharing the love of God.
I’m grateful for the legacy of social and racial justice, spiritual formation, transformative education, and women’s empowerment—the lived-out tenets of Scarritt for decades. And I pray we continue to be a powerful witness for God in Christ in the world today. The incarnate Word needs flesh and blood, heart, and mind to bring the transforming love of God into the world.
This Christmas season, read the first chapter of the Gospel of John, and ponder: what might the Word made flesh look like?
Christmas blessings,
Donna
Rev. Dr. Donna Patterson serves as Anam Cara Chaplain in Residence for Scarritt Bennett Center and directs the Center’s Soul Work program.