150: A Christmas Feast (Part 2)

The only thing which we may take with us from our life on earth are those things which we have given away. – Babette’s Feast Friends, The feast of Christmas is drawing near. In preparation, I invite you to share this gift for the soul with the like-hearted among our global community. In Babette’s Feast, Isak Dinesen explores the riches of Christ’s grace in story form. This dialogue from one of his characters caught my attention: “‘Man, my friends,’ said General Loewenhielm, ‘is frail and foolish. We have all of us been told that grace is to be found in the universe. But in our human foolishness and short‐sightedness, we imagine divine grace to be finite. For this reason, we tremble….We tremble before making our choice in life, and after having made it again tremble in fear of having chosen wrong. But the moment comes when our eyes are opened, and we see and realize that grace is infinite. Grace, my friends, demands nothing from us but that we shall await it with confidence and acknowledge it in gratitude. Grace, brothers, makes no conditions and singles out none of us in particular; grace takes us all to its bosom and proclaims general amnesty. See! That which we have chosen is given us, and that which we have refused is, also and at the same time, granted us. Ay, that which we have rejected is poured upon us abundantly. For mercy and truth have met together, and righteousness and bliss have kissed one another!’” Let’s jump into Part 2 of a Christmas Feast. May hope rise fresh in our hearts with holy defiance as we remember together the trajectory of our God-authored stories:  God has the first word.  And God has the last word.  This is good news, my friends.  Merry Christmas, Morgan