Artwork: The Birth, by Randall Bear Barnetson
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"Suddenly, next to the messenger, a great number of spirit warriors from the spirit-world above appeared giving thanks to Creator, saying, All honour to the One Above Us All, and let peace and good will follow all who walk upon the earth. When the messengers returned to the spirit-world above, the shepherds said to one another "Let us go and see this great thing Creator has told to us". So they hurried to the village of Chief Much Loved One (David) and found Bitter Tears (Mary), He Gives Songs (Joseph), and the child, who, just as they were told, was lying in a feeding trough! The shepherds began to tell everyone what they had seen and heard about this child and all who heard their story were amazed. Bitter Tears (Mary) kept these things hidden in her heart and wondered what this would all mean. The shepherds returned to their fields, giving thanks to the Great Spirit for the wonders they had seen and heard."
-Luke 2:13-20 (First Nations Version)
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Love | by Esther Doerksen
OMG I love this! I love this movie or I love this song, or I would absolutely love to do that. Love is both a hot button and overly saturated word in the world. Love is everywhere in a literal and metaphorical sense. No matter a person's religion, ethnicity, culture, background, family of origin, country etc. etc. love will undoubtably and inevitably become a part of that person's life. The Christmas story tells a different story about love and what love is.
Hesed is the word used for love in the Hebrew (הסתה) among other variations to describe familial love, romantic love and friendship love. However, "hesed" is almost always connected to Creator's as a way to describe Creator's character and the things he does for his people. "Hesed" relates to Creator's goodness, his "tov" in the Hebrew, which is a word used several times in Genesis when Creator is creating the world, especially human beings – he says, we are "very good." Love and goodness seem to be synonymous. In the Greek there are many words for love and each in a way, describes a type of love (eros, philia, ludus, agape, pragma, philautia). Agape is the type of love most often used to describe the love Creator has for humanity as expressed in Creator Sets Free (Jesus). Creator Sets Free (Jesus) would likely have been speaking Aramaic, especially around his disciples as it was a language of family and intimacy, and in Aramaic the word for love is "rakhmah" which is a nod to Deuteronomy 6:5 (the Shema). However, the word is written in Greek so the word for love that is most often used is agape in the New Testament and it is in direct correlation with Creator Sets Free (Jesus) and how he modeled and embodied love here on earth, it is action not simply feeling.
Visual artist and writer Scott Erickson, or as he is known on social media, Scott the Painter, has a way of bringing theological and biblical ideas and concepts mixed with at times modern ideas to life. His work is always thought provoking, evocative and, rings with truth. The piece that I want to highlight here is from his book Honest Advent and it is a drawing of the baby Jesus, titled Mighty God (from Isaiah 9:6). Mary's hand is shown wiping Jesus's bum, just as any mother would after her child soiled their diaper. I don't know what kind of diapers Mary would have used in those ancient days but most likely they weren't Pampers. Erickson contemplates on the image with these words: "If you live long enough, your life will begin and end with someone wiping your butt. From vulnerability to vulnerability we live . . . that is to say, weakness will be a companion throughout our lives. Jesus is mighty not because of His capacity to overcome hardship but because of His willingness to go through human hardship, like we have to do. It is this compassionate empathy that has the power to transform the human heart."
In other words Creator Sets Free (Jesus) came in full embodied human vulnerability and it is in this vulnerability that Creator Sets Free (Jesus) shows true might through his willingness to embrace and walk through human hardship. This is how Creator has and continues to embody full and true love to us, it is through his willingness to humbly embody the full human experience. Love is in the dirt and the dust just as Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was born into the mud and the mire of this world. Love is found, as Kacey Musgraves resonates, in rivers that are trying to find the ocean, flowers growing out of concrete, and, in many ways love is in places that we can't see. I would say we can't often see love is because we aren't looking for it.
Throughout this Christmas season, our strength and might and force might be better demonstrated and expressed through our ability to slow down, set boundaries for rest, and take the intentional time to do things that will bring life and better embody and model the love of God as it is modeled in the humble act of birth.
Be Embodied and have a very Merry Christmas!
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Esther Doerksen, hailing from Abbotsford, is currently finishing a Masters degree in theological studies at Regent College. Esther is a writer, social justice advocate, and a sister, daughter, and granddaughter. Esther is part of the Table Vineyard Community.
