by CCW | 12 December 2018 12:58
“Love is in the nature of a first gift through which all gifts are given,” the great Medieval theologian, Thomas Aquinas notes. His words capture something of the wonder and the mystery of the Christian celebration of Christmas but extend as well to the sense of the awesome mystery of life that belongs to the other great religions and philosophies of the world. One of the passages of Scripture which always catches my imagination is from the Wisdom of Solomon. “When all things were in quiet silence and the night was in the midst of her swift course, then thy almighty word leapt down from heaven, from thy royal throne.” It awakens us thoughtfully and prayerfully to the presence of the wisdom of God in the world, an image too that counters so much of the hype and busyness of this time of the year in our frenetic, hectic, and distracted world.
This sense of “the givenness of things”, to borrow a phrase from the American novelist and theologian, Marilynne Robinson, is part of the greater wonder and mystery of Christmas, part of the greater wonder and mystery of the wisdom of the ages. The simple givenness of things in which we find wonder and delight stands in contrast to the idea of life as simply that into which we have been thrown, the thrownness of things, as it were, in which we find only alienation and despair, a sense of nihilism. The simple givenness of things is about life as a gift, about life as light and love. The simple givenness of things is the love through which all other gifts are given.
To appreciate that simple givenness of things requires that we sit and listen, that we pause and reflect, that we take the time to ponder what has been given to us. That means that we too have to give of ourselves to what has been given to us. Such are the possibilities of being opened out to the wisdom of God that illumines and enlightens our world of darkness and despair.
It is my hope and prayer that our Advent Services of Nine Lessons and Carols will have helped you in finding a time to sit and contemplate, to read and quietly ponder the simple givenness of things. It has become my stock phrase, of course, and yet one which I stand by in all seriousness, namely, to wish you all a happy and blessed Christmas ‘reading’ break, emphasis on the reading! It is a break from all of our usual routines and habits that belong to the life of the school, a break from classes and patterns that allow you a freedom, I hope, to read and to think, to ponder the mystery and the wonder of life; in short, the simple givenness of things. One of the gifts, I think, that flow out from the love and wisdom of God.
With every blessing.
(Rev’d) David Curry
Chaplain, English & ToK teacher
Chair of the Department of Religion and Philosophy
Source URL: https://christchurchwindsor.ca/2018/12/12/kes-chapel-reflection-week-of-12-december/
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