Mary’s song: and all the Mary traditions that emerged in the Christian faith: most of which were lost or disregarded in the Reformations, show us a person with a rich interior life.  Academics, watching the rise of A.I., comment on how, for all the wonder of technology: it seems each step of it, erodes the practice of nurturing, fostering and growing a rich, interior life.

How is your interior life at this time of the year?

How is your interior life as you approach Christmas Day?

What can you hear your heart song pleading?

“Glance at the sun.  See the moon and the stars.

Gaze at the beauty of earth’s greenings. 

Now, think. What delight God gives to humankind with all these things.” Hildegard

How is your interior life at this time of the year?

Glance at the sun.  See the moon and the stars.

How is your interior life as you approach Christmas Day?

Gaze at the beauty of earth’s greenings. 

What can you hear your heart song pleading?

Now, think: What delight God gives to humankind with all these things.”

If you are slightly disturbed by the state of the interior… I count myself with you.  If you are feeling a bit discombobulated, rushed beyond expectation, exhausted by the year, fearful or unsure, anxious, … all these things… remember what we heard from Julien of Norwich earlier in the service…

“It is God’s will that we have true delight with God in our salvation and that we might be mighty comforted and strengthened.  And so God wants for our souls to be occupied joyfully with God’s grace.  For we are God’s bliss, for God delights in us without end, and so, by God’s grace will we delight in God.” – Jullien

Evelyn Underhill says “Joy is the fruit of the Spirit, not of our gratified emotions.”

Do you think you have time this week to read the Luke account of the birth narrative: and on a second occasion read Matthew’s version: and on a third occasion, ponder the differences in your heart?

Do you think that you will 

Glance at the sun.  See the moon and the stars. or

Gaze at the beauty of earth’s greenings. 

Nourishment, fostering and growing a rich, interior life is not hard. 

But it does take conscious actions.  Actions not only actions of DOING, but also of BEING.