This Ignatian Life

And into this world, a child was born.

I think of this, at this time of year, and I allow myself to be renewed. I remember now. I remember that there was a person who lived, whose words were love, who gave himself to kindness, even to death. I remember, there was a person who spoke about the troubles of the world, and rather than feel powerless, he felt all power – but it was not the power the world seeks. It was the power of care for others, concern for the least among us, and concern for the cares of the people I love. He talked about forgiveness – that I am forgiven, and that I can seek to forgive. He talked about loving, not just the people who love me, but the people who hate me as well. He talked about letting go of my desire for material treasure, and seeking, instead, treasure that would not corrupt.

I ask myself…

It is Christmas time…

Do you know where your savior is? Is he in the manger? Is he in the temple? Is he around the table? Is he on the cross?

(don’t look in the tomb, you won’t find him there)

Do you see the person sitting next to you? Do you see the people whose messages are in you “inbox?” Do you see the people sitting at the light next to you? No. None of them are your Savior. They can reveal Him, though. Christ is being born at all times, in them, in you, in the world.

Do you hear the good news?

Do you hear that voice underneath the radio, below the hum of your computer, beneath the sound of the rain, just under the ringing in your ears, in the ebb of your breath? There is a space within us all where we can know the Messiah. Is it her, the voice of proverbial Wisdom? Perhaps once your house has been all stilled (thank you John of the Cross), the voice of the One you seek will call you to meet Him. Or as Theresa of Avila describes, the voice of the kind King is calling you always to come a little further into the castle, to a place near the center, where you can sit in one another’s presence. There is a place where you can “behold God, beholding you, and smiling” and it is not far.

I rest.

Know he is being born in you. His love helps you forgive. His love helps you understand the hurt, and learn to love again. His love helps you continue on, through heartbreak and loss. His love gives you the freedom to celebrate with joy. His love gives you strength to effect change, to spread peace, to carry the message he professed in his sermon on the mount, as he reclined at table, from the top of Golgotha, and on the road to Emmaus. The change in the world that you long to see, his love will help you be that change. He is in you, being born in you. Let yourself listen for the words you long to hear.

Related posts:

1. Hear I AM
2. …in all things but sin.
3. The Creed
4. What?
5. Watch What You Eat