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Pastor's Monthly Newsletter Message

December 2008

Dear Friends,

In his poem titled Star Silver, Carl Sandburg speaks of

	Star silver playing cross-lights on pine green
	Back in a barn in a Bethlehem slum;
	Why does the story never wear out?

Sandburg’s poetic message is direct: it is in the Bethlehem stable where heaven and 
earth meet, where star silver and pine green intertwine; and it is in the Bethlehem Babe,
in the presence of the Child Jesus, that the divine and the human merge.  An old story, 
ever new! Why does the story never wear out?

The story never wears out simply because it speaks an eternal truth: Emmanuel . . . 
God with us. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” wrote the author of John’s Gospel.  
“We have beheld His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.”  God took His Word, 
wrapped it in swaddling clothes, and laid it in a manger, 
so that love might be more than a Word only heard.

I believe, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that God
WOULD have been more real to Israel if the Prophets had had a Word in 
	Flesh to point to
RATHER than just a word that was heard, but no one could possibly 
FEEL or touch or hold; consequently, God took His Word and wrapped 
	Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger where
LOVE could be felt and fully known, not just talked about, 
	all of which makes more sense
THAN lofty ideas, concepts and notions lost in a maze of God-words,
	God-plans, and God-
TALK which pale for lack of flesh and blood; 
	Christmas is the centerfold between the Old Testament 
	and the New: in one, people talk
ABOUT God’s love while in the other, people feel
IT.      I’m glad we live on this side of the centerfold.

The story never wears out because it addresses a perennial need for 
love and peace. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” (Isaiah).  
Christmas seems to come at the climax of calamity, even now.  This year Christmas—Emmanuel, 
God with us—comes when a once-prosperous economy is far less prosperous, and we join the 
rest of the world who are in desperate need of love, peace, harmony, and hope.  This same 
need once again sets the stage for star silver playing cross-lights on pine green, for 
heaven touching earth, for the divine residing with the human, for love being made real, 
for Emmanuel, God with us.  It’s an old story, ever new, ever relevant—a story that never 
wears out.

In this joyous season and throughout the new year, may God bless you and those whom you 
love with the special awareness of Christ’s eternal Presence.

Yours truly for a Season of Love and Joy,
Calvin C. Wilson, Interim Pastor