Christmas Prayer 2020

I think it was an old "father of the church" named Irenaeus who said something like "God became human, so we could become divine." A very loose (and inclusive) translation, but one that I have been reflecting on throughout the days leading up to this Christmas.

Over the past few years, my heart and my belief in God have expanded to the point that I cringe whenever Christians insist on Jesus above everything, as if to say that all the other faiths in the world, many of them far more ancient than Christianity, are somehow less valid or valuable than Christian belief. I wish that everyone was able to take a course on World Religions, and learn that there is so much more to faith and spirituality than what our churches teach us.

But the one thing about Christianity that I really do appreciate is the idea that God wanted  to be with us, to live the life we live, to suffer as we suffer, to rejoice as we rejoice, and to teach us that if we rely on love to guide us, the world is a better place. So Jesus came in solidarity with our human condition, to remind us that when we let God's love guide us, we are more like the force that sustains the universe than like pitiful, fallible human beings.

After a month of meditation about God-coming-to-be-with-us, this is my Christmas prayer for all of us in this strange pandemic year:

You,
O God,

Emmanuel,
came to be with us
in all our struggles,
to demonstrate humility and selflessness
and to remind us 
that when we let love for all that is
guide our ways,
we are as close to you
as we can come.

Be with us
and move us
to reach out to all who are struggling
so that in our own struggles
we learn the solidarity
you came to teach us.

Bless us
and help us.

Help us to re-make our world

so that those who have much

divide what we have with those who have little,

so that those who are in sorrow

receive reasons for joy,

so that those who are sick 

reach good health once again, 

and those who are lonely

are surrounded by your love in us,

your people.

+Amen