Zephaniah 3: 14-20

A recent issue of Christianity Today asked the perennial question, “If God wants us to believe in him, why doesn’t God come out of hiding?” Why doesn’t God overwhelm us with a powerful appearance, so that there can be no question about his existence? It’s a good question and the discussion of it in Christianity Today is profound, exploring all the places in space and time where God hides. It ends, as you’d expect, with a reference to the cross. That is where God appeared so that we could see him and believe...

Could Picasso paint a realistic face? Sure. See his self-portrait below left. But sometimes it's the elements that have been fragmented and reassembled that tell the story most fully. His portrait of Dora Maar below right was painted in June of 1941. Because of his notoriety, Picasso was one of the few "degenerate" artists who were allowed to live (reasonably) unbothered during the Nazi occupation of Paris. What would it say for Picasso to have lived in the midst of such a human nightmare and paint a lovely portrait of a woman sitting in a chair wearing a hat?...

("'Are you going home for Christmas?' What question is more commonplace in December? You are at the store paying for your groceries when a cashier glances over to the bagger to ask, 'So, you going home for Christmas next week?' Two older couples meet up in the dairy section: 'Hey, Charlie and Doreen! Are your kids coming home for Christmas?'...")

A woman, who had recently lost her husband and was facing her first Christmas without him, included in her Christmas cards a letter where she reflected upon some of her thoughts and feelings. She wrote: "I wonder about many things, things that I have noticed. I wonder, how can it be that my husband, who is dead, continues to live and minister to me and to the children? I wonder, how is it that in the midst of searing heartache, I found God and the power to keep on going? I wonder, how is it that as a result of this tragedy, old friendships are deepened and new friendships formed?" And then she answered her own questions at the end of the letter by writing, "Christmas is the promise that God can be trusted to meet all our needs. Some say the first Christmas without my husband will be very painful. I'm sure it will be. But without Christmas, my life would be impossible."

"I want to make a confession." That was the first thing Jack said to me after we introduced ourselves. Jack was in his mid 20s. The hospital chaplain had contacted me because Jack wanted to see a minister. "I've done some really terrible things. There are some things that I don't think can be made right again. I've done things that can't be forgiven," he said softly but firmly. He continued saying. "I'm here in the hospital because I have ruined my body. "It started when I was in high school. It never entered my head that I would be here is hospital because of the things I did back then." He went on detailing his rebellious teen years without making any excuses, as if he were a prosecuting attorney. He told me a story of bad sexual habits, drug abuse and even an attempt to end his own life through an overdose. He concluded by saying that his wayward life was the reason he was about to lose an eye when he was operated on for a brain tumour. With tears welling in his eyes, he said finally after a short pause, "If I had believed in God more, gone to church more, and followed the advice of my Sunday School teachers, I wouldn't be in this mess. I got all tangled up in all kinds of wrong things and I couldn't get out of them. My problems are all my fault. With this brain tumour what kind of future do I have?"...

"Blaise Pascal was an influential scientist who lived in the 1600’s. He was something of a genius. For example, at the age of twelve, even before he had received any formal training in geometry, Pascal independently discovered and demonstrated Euclid’s thirty-two propositions. He was also a Christian. When he died in 1662 his servant found a small piece of parchment sewn into his coat..."

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