+ The Good Life

A Penetrating Christmas Poem by Christopher Fry

The poet, Christopher Fry, articulates a question suggested by the Christmas drama of the Gospels:

 

The darkest time in the year.

The poorest place in the town.

Cold, and a taste of fear.

Man and woman alone.

What can we hope for here?

 

More light than we can learn,

More strength than we can treasure,

More love than we can earn,

More peace than we can measure.

Because one child is born*

 

 

As through a single flake

Of snow touching the earth

Would all our thirsting slake

And turn all death to birth

Bidding our spirits wake

 

To what makes many one.

The deep solicitude

Which bred both star and bone.

Claiming, by stable and rood

God’s will to be our own.

 

(Christopher Fry)

 

  

 

Christmas Vision

A woman captured my attention at Rotary Club.  “I’m a mutant,” she said. “Most people have three color receptors in their eyes. I have four.  I see 99 million more colors than the average person.” 

I goggled Concetta Antico. Her story seems legitimate. Concetta said, “I consider my mutation a gift.” Her vision acuity is called tetrachromatic.  She uses her ability in her profession as an artist.  “But sometimes my vision gift can become a challenge,” she acknowledged.  “The riot of colors in a supermarket aisle, can be a bit overwhelming.”  I wonder how Concetta does with Christmas tree lights.

Tetrachromatic vision has its benefits, but super-human vision is not needed to see the beauty of the earth and the glory of the skies.  Much more important than an additional receptor in the eye, is the focus of the mind.  Consider Vincent Van Gogh.  He covered his canvas with brilliant colors, and some scholars now believe he was missing a color receptor.  They suggest that he was colorblind.

Whether we have two, three or four color receptors, we humans have the ability to choose how we focus our mind’s eye.  Will we decide to look beyond the horrid sights that sometimes fill our screens when we flip a channel or click the mouse?  Will we envision an alternative picture of hope?

The Christian scripture teaches that while mad kings were doing their dastardly things in days of old, God was bathing a little town of Bethlehem in light. God still imparts to human hearts the blessings of heaven. I have found that when my head gets to the heart of this message I have better potential to become a receptor and reflector of God’s beauty.  

Big Impact with Little Prayers

There can be a big impact in our relationship with God and others as we take time for little prayers throughout each day.

Full Bodied Prayer

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