My Friends…
As we yet again move through this holy season of Advent, my heart habit turns to the mystery of the Word made Flesh—a mystery that has entranced me, and the minds and hearts of many throughout the ages. From the opening prologue to John’s Gospel to the visions of Hildegard of Bingen, the poetic reflections of T.S. Eliot, and the poignant words of W.H. Auden, the Incarnation calls to stand in awe at the thin portal of God’s self-revelation in Jesus. I was gifted many years ago with an amazing professor that had us read aloud Auden’s For the Time Being; that experience resides deep in my heart and it the annual invitation to dig deeper.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” These words from John’s Prologue reminds me that Jesus, that we await, is no mere teacher or prophet but the eternal Word through whom all things were made. My understanding of The Wisdom Literature leads me to understanding vaguely that: before, before, before, there is the Word. (As Aristotle suggested, and Aquinas confirmed as proof of the existence of God, ‘the unmoved mover’.)
Hildegard of Bingen envisions this Word as the “Ancient of Days,” the source of all light, reason, and life, who kindled the sun itself and brought forth all creation as a reflection of divine glory. She describes creation as “mirrors” in which God gazes, marveling at the miracles of antiquity. In this season, we are invited to become mirrors of God’s light, reflecting the hope and love of Jesus incarnate to a world longing for redemption.
Advent is a time of waiting; it is a time of preparation and reckoning. As T.S. Eliot writes in The Rock, the Incarnation confronts us with a choice—a moment of clarity and decision. Like Simeon, who held the Christ child in his arms and declared, “Let thy servant depart in peace,” we are invited to understand human salvation not as an abstract idea but as a living reality in Jesus. It is here that we are challenged. Eliot understands that the Word made Flesh comes to us in a world marked by despair and contradiction. The Incarnation strains for our full attention and response: will we receive the light of Christ, or will we yet again turn away?
W.H. Auden, in Christmas Oratorio: For the Time Being, presents Simeon reflecting on the paradox of the Word made Flesh. Simeon observes:
“The Word could not be made Flesh until men had reached A state of absolute contradiction between clarity and despair in which they would have no choice but either to Accept absolutely or to reject absolutely.”
Auden emphasizes the Incarnation as our ultimate confrontation with divine truth, a revelation that humanity can no longer vaguely misunderstand or partially accept. Jesus, The Word made Flesh demands an active and conscious response. Simeon declares with awe:
“That which hitherto we could only passively Fear as the incomprehensible I AM, henceforth we may actively love with comprehension that THOU ART.”
Advent however is not simply a season of waiting—it is a season of active preparation. The Word, who was in the beginning, before our understanding of the beginning, enters history to dwell among us. Hildegard informs us, this Word animates all creation, calling forth the “living sounds” of all creatures in a symphony of praise. Eliot’s words from Four Quartets, the journey of faith leads us to “arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” Through the Incarnation, God reconciles time and eternity, bringing all things into harmony in Christ.
Advent is an invitation, a longing, a pleading, to open our hearts to the transformative, beyond human understanding, power of the Word. Let us prepare the way for this baby, Jesus, not only in our worship rituals but more importantly how we manifest this way of love in the fiber of our being in every aspect of our daily lives. May we become reflectors of the light of the Word to those around us, bringing hope to the weary, comfort to the broken, welcoming the stranger, and peace to a broken world. As the fire and the rose are made one, may we find in Christ the unity of justice and mercy, time and eternity, divinity and humanity.
Let us proclaim with Simeon: “Now and forever, we are not alone.” The Word has come to dwell among us, and in Him, all things are made new.
Blessings to you this Advent, May you be overwhelmed with the peace that passes all understanding…
Shalom, Rex
Readings
John 1:1-5
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (NRSV)
Story of the Word (Common English Bible)
In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Word was with God in the beginning. Everything came into being through the Word, and without the Word nothing came into being. What came into being through the Word was life and the life was the light for all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness doesn’t extinguish the light.
(The Voice translation)
In the beginning: Before time itself was measured, the Voice was speaking. The Voice was and is God. This celestial Word remained ever present with the Creator; His speech shaped the entire cosmos. Immersed in the practice of creating, all things that exist were birthed in Him. His breath filled all things with a living, breathing light—A light that thrives in the depths of darkness, blazes through murky bottoms. It cannot and will not be quenched.
From Hildegard of Bingen’s Book of Divine Works
“In the beginning was the Word. The text can be understood this way: I, Who Am without beginning, from whom all beginnings proceed—I, the Ancient of Days—speak thus. I, by myself, am the day that never came from the sun, but the sun was kindled from me. And I am the reason that did not resound from another, but all rationality breathes forth from me. In order to behold my face, I created mirrors in which I gaze on all the miracles of my antiquity, which shall never end; and I made those mirrors sing together in praise, for I have a voice like thunder, through which I move the whole earth with the living sounds of all creatures.”
From W.H. Auden’s Christmas Oratorio: For the Time Being
SIMEON:
“From the beginning until now God spoke through
His prophets. The Word aroused the uncomprehending
Depths of their flesh to a witnessing fury, and their witness was this:
That the Word should be made Flesh. Yet their witness
Could only be received as long as it was vaguely misunderstood,
As long as it seemed either to be neither impossible nor necessary,
Or necessary but not impossible, or impossible but not necessary.
And the prophecy could not therefore be fulfilled. For it could only
Be fulfilled when it was no longer possible to receive, because
It was clearly understood as absurd.
The Word could not be made Flesh until men had reached
A state of absolute contradiction between clarity and despair
In which they would have no choice but either to
Accept absolutely or to reject absolutely.”
From T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets
“We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, remembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.
Quick now, here, now, always—
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flame are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one.”
