Deus Incarnare

christmas, originally uploaded by mincaye.

Top photo, L-R: Nigel, Alissa, Darryl, me, Wei Aun (who worked for awhile in SU, and is now a doctor practising in Sabah).

Bottom photo, L-R: Dad, Mum, me, Sara, my uncle from Singapore, my cousin Michelle, Kevin.


(Warning: long post ahead)

Last night, I went for the Christmas Eve midnight service at St Paul's Anglican Church with the Rodes (Nigel, Alissa and Mr and Mrs Rode) and Darryl; then this morning for the Christmas celebration service at Glad Tidings with my family.

(Never two more contrasting experiences, though I have yet to explore the Orthodox church in Brickfields and the famous Acts Church.)


Some highlights from St Paul's:

We ushered in Christmas with a celebration of the Eucharist. Just imagine: Holy Communion at 12 a.m. on Christmas morning! It really brings a whole new perspective to the multi-faceted phenomenon we call the Incarnation.

After the Eucharist, our candles were lighted, and the lights turned off. At one point, one of the altar servers' candle went out, so he came to me to relight it. As he turned his wick towards my flame, some of the wax from his candle spilled onto my hand.

That happened quite a bit at the d'NA graduation, as my candle melted. It's hot, but doesn't really hurt. Yet I found it instructive to note that upholding one another in a fellowship of love, involves not only sharing our light, but also bearing the 'wax' of others.

We sang 'O Holy Night' before the benediction; it remains one of my favourite Christmas carols:

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees,
O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night divine, O holy night,
O night divine.


Some highlights from Glad Tidings:

The Children's Church put up a sketch, which brought to light some deep and important questions. It was creatively executed, especially with the background animation which suggested the passage of time using music and sounds from different eras within the 20th century, highlighting the timelessness of the Gospel.

One of the characters remarked, "Everything seems more interesting than the Word of God today." Perhaps it is indeed apt that the theme for the KL/PJ School Christian Fellowship Convention next year is 'The Berean Call':

"[The Berean Jews] were more receptive than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message very eagerly and examined the scriptures every day to see whether these things were so." (Acts 17:11)

I believe the theme of the performance was, "Jesus is more than just a story on a page." How true it is! Jesus is a story, but a living one who is made incarnate in every other story, for he is the Great Story in which we find ourselves: the narratives of our life--indeed, of all creation--are merely parts of the overarching narrative that is He.

Pastor Vincent drew our attention to Luke 2:25-35 in his sermon, which centred around the question, "Who is Jesus; what child is this?" The last two verses caught my attention:

"...This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed--and a sword will pierce your own soul too." (emphasis mine)

He then cross-referenced Matthew 16:13-20; I was reading The Message and Peterson's paraphrase of verse 18 stood out:

"And now I'm going to tell you who you are, really are. You are Peter, a rock. This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out."

I may be very much mistaken, but I believe 'energy' in the kingdom vocabulary, also reflects 'Spirit.' More on this later.

We know we have seen the living God, not necessarily because we see him in all his glory, but because by him we see ourselves for who we really are. C.S. Lewis concluded his lecture 'Is Theology Poetry?' as follows:

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."

And even if one does not see the sun, one can tell it has risen because it brings light to everything. Likewise with the Son. He is the mirror in whom we see ourselves for who we really are; in his eyes are we judged. No wonder Simon exclaimed, "Depart from me, Master, for I am a sinner."

At this point, I cannot say I comprehend the Incarnation. But I am beginning to see newer dimensions to it, of which I was previously ignorant. Michael's lectures on the book of John offer much insight into this great mystery as well.

Just read John 1 and 3 (NOT the 1st and 3rd epistles of John, but chapters 1 and 3 of John's Gospel); they're really mind-blowing chapters.

Now, about the Spirit, which I mentioned briefly just now. Michael pointed out the for God to become human, there must have been an enormous release of energy (forget enthalpy; no measuring device could possibly measure the magnitude of the Incarnation).

This also suggests that the Incarnation still happens today, for the Spirit of God works in and through believers and non-believers alike; by his power are all things held together. We are all, as someone once pointed out, 'after-Christs' who reflect the glory of God in this world.

(It is too much for the human mind to imagine, let alone understand. There comes a point where theorising must end, and reverence begin. And that is here and now).


I received, from my uncle and his daughter, Michelle, Mark Haddon's book 'The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night-time' and from Ronny, Leanne and Cassandra (three of my cousins on my father's side) a desk calendar themed 'Poetry Speaks.'

(Actually, I thought of buying the calendar ever since I saw it in Borders, Times Square. Good thing I didn't! It's going to adorn the Editor's Desk in school; watch out, Denise!)

I shall end this relatively long entry with an excerpt from T.S. Eliot's poem 'Journey of the Magi':

All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.