Merry Christmas!!

[Antonios]

"God is born from a woman and appears in the flesh ... A cave and a manger welcome Him. Shepherds announce the wonder. Wise men from the East offer gifts in Bethlehem.

"Let us from our unworthy lips, offer praise like the angels: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace!

"Today heaven and earth are united, for Christ is born. Today God has come to earth, and man ascends to heaven. Today God, who by nature cannot be seen, is seen in the flesh for our sake. Let us glorify Him ... !" (From the compline service of Christmas eve)

Merry Christmas to all!

[Peter Farrington]

Joy to the world!

Christ is born!

Merry Christmas to everyone.

Peter

[John Charmley]

As St. John tells us:


1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Let us rejoice!

Happy Christmas to you all.:)

In Christ,

John

[Nicolaj]

To all how have christmas these days: Rejoice!! Put the Light on the table where it can be seen and its light will light in the darkest corner! Rejoice!

I prepare some veggies while fasting continues for me and my kin

In Christ,

Nicolaj

[Paul Cowan]

What a truly wonderful Nativity Service this morning/ last night.

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

[Owen Jones]

In meditating on the meaning of the Nativity the word humiliation comes to mind. What a humiliating experience for Joseph and Mary! First there is the pregnancy "problem." Then there is the problem of a lack of any decent place to stay, and the birth in a cave amidst the pungent backdrop of animal manure and urine. Being not exactly a poor peasant, while not being wealthy, the most common reaction would be -- how much have I been humiliated by these circumstances! But we know of course that the nativity prefigures His humiliation on the Cross. What does this mean? For the believer, it means that the cycle of tit for tat is over. If I am humiliated by someone or some circumstance, or even some bad decision on my part, no longer do I have recourse to revenge -- to even the scales of justice -- to make someone else suffer as recompense. If we look at the Islamic world, it seems to be entirely based on the idea that if humiliated, someone else must pay. But isn't this our problem as well? If we could actually absorb the spirit of the nativity in our daily living, would not that change us, dramatically, and everyone with whom we come into contact? I know that the idea that God would want us to be humiliated is a hard nut to crack. But that is precisely what he has submitted himself to, in order that we might find our true path. Yet we cling to the idea that if others would just see things our way, or do things our way, everything would then be fine. When they don't, we get sore, and begin to become deluded into thinking that our problem is a lack of power to influence or control others. When in actuality, voluntarily giving up power over others is the key to righteousness and salvation.

[Paul Cowan]

Hello Owen,
I have been interested in the words humiliation, humiliated and humility for some time. I am glad you mentioned them. This is my viewpoint only or my perception only and not an attack on how you used them in your post.

Humiliation is a by-product of pride. It is an inner feeling the person has of not being good enough or is lacking in something to such an extreme as to have no humblness.

Humiliated can be similar, but is mostly something brought on by another. "I humiliated him". We really have no idea if the person was truly humiliated ie. he took on a prideful humiliation or whether he was too humble to be humiliated. It is an external force.

Humility is the opposite of pride. It is what the Church Fathers strived for to put out of thier lives. "He is full of humility".

Many of the Fathers took much insult and slander in humility showing no pride in their spirit. The person doing the slandering tried to humiliate them and whether they were or not it was an external event. If they were humiliated, their humiliation was based on pride which is what we try to avoid.

All three words can be interlinked, but how we deal with situations is how our spirit responds to the tests we are given. Pride comes before a fall. Conversly, humiliation comes before a fall.

Not having any reference, I wonder if the Holy family was humiliated or accepted their position in humility? I certainly don't think Christ was humiliated on the Life Giving Cross. He endured all with great humility. He knew before hand what was going to happen. Perhaps the onlookers assumed he had been humiliated (an external situation) but He was very much in control of the situation at all times.

I don't think God wants us to be humiliated but to endure all things in humility. If other Faiths do not hold to a self sacrificing ideology, then they are not following God's directives for their lives. We are told to bear with one another in live and patience. To endure all things for Christ who loved us.

If only I could curb my demon of pride. Pray for me.

Paul