Journal of Sacred Work

"A beautiful thing, though simple in its immediate presence, always gives us a sense of depth below depth, almost an innocent wild vertigo as one falls through its levels." Frederick Turner

 
   I awoke around midnight to the magic sound of walnuts being cracked open on the fireplace hearth in the next room. It was Santa!

   My excitement knew only one boundary: My father's stern warning to me and my sisters not to enter the Christmas-flooded living room until he gave the signal at dawn.

   It was Christmas Eve, 1950 (more than a year after the photo at left). Oddly, I remember that last night of my belief in Santa (I was seven) more than I do anything I got on Christmas day.

   The sound of those walnuts was "A beautiful thing, though simple in its immediate presence." It created not only excitement but a hope that bounded across my heart like a shooting star.

   At a "depth below depth," that simple noise created proof to me that Santa had, in fact (and against all the odds) actually found our house. Gee Willikers! Santa and his reindeer would soon jump the backyard wall and visit my friend Jill's home as well!

   The beauty of hope is that it is a vessel of mystery. It exists as possibility. 

   The colors of Beauty's hope can only be painted by our imagination. The reality of the world – even the best presents beneath the angel-topped evergreen, can rarely exceed the perfection that lives in Christmas Eve's imagining.

   Each day and night, some part of us hopes for miracles. In this season, Christians celebrate the ancient and always-new hope that rises as we imagine the Magi seeking to discover the Messiah.  

   We know of the Messiah's discovery by the Magi. What of our own discovery? As you care for those in need, can you feel the presence of Love's gift as you reach to touch the pain of others? Do you sense this presence healing your own heart?

   The always-eloquent John O'Donohue tells us, "Only if there is beauty in us can we recognize beauty elsewhere: beauty knows beauty. In this way, beauty can be a mirror that manifests our own beauty."

   On this Christmas Eve, look in the mirror that reflects beauty from the quiet corners of the room. Look not at the flame of the candle but the way the candle-light illuminates your hands. Listen to the scent the tree sends your way. Hear the silence between the notes of Christmas carols. 

   As you experience these and other images, know that each one "manifests [your] own beauty." It is your beauty that sees the light in another's eyes. It is your beauty that experiences another's joy. It is your beauty that feels the presence of the Love that is the baby in the manger.

-Reverend Erie Chapman       

Note:"Gee Willikers" is an outdated phrase from the 1950s. "Gee," here, was a gentle way to say "Jesus" without sounding like you were swearing. The origin of "Willikers" remains a mystery.