Acceptance at Christmas

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 3, Issue 30, 17 December 1985, Page 10

Acceptance at Christmas

I was watching the investiture of the new Governor General Paul Reeves on television at work and enjoying it as I found it quite moving. Half way through the cleaning lady decided to move in with her noisy vacuum cleaner. I was curious as to what she thought of the new Governor General so I asked her. "I don't know him," she replied and carried on with her work, seemingly without a care or a glance at the programme. 1 wanted to say to her, "Hey! This is something really important, it concerns you and the rest of your family and the whole of Aotearoa. Can you stop your hus-

tle and bustle for even a moment or two?" Of course I didn't. We both carried on absorbed in our different worlds. With all the hustle and bustle, the frantic preparation for the Christmas holidays and all the festivities and the glistening bright lights and singing, with trappings of commercialism, the real meaning of Christmas can be lost so easily. And yet, however perverted this all may seem, this hustle and bustle, I remind myself that this is exactly the world that the Christ child was born into as John 1 reported "He came into his own . . " People were doing then what we ourselves are doing now on that first Christmas night. People in the hustle and bustle of their lives. People like you and me with fears, frustrations, greed, loneliness and anger. God accepted them as he accepts me for what I am with all my prejudices, dreams and suspicions. God comes to me as Sonny Melbourne, not as Paul Reeves or the cleaning lady. Despite my failures, my weaknesses, God accepts me for what I am. He does not reject me. More often than

not it is I who reject Him, when I fail to love and respect people in their world. So I think it is great that God accepts me as I am. There are no strings attached. I don't even have to give Him a present, just myself as I am, and that is really worth celebrating. The choice is ours. God offers us His love through His Son. We can either accept it or reject it.

"He came into his own and his own people received him not. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God." May you find room in your hearts, in your hustle and bustle, for the Christ child, and for an enjoyable and happy Christmas.

Sonny

Melbourne

Padre Waiouru