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The South Marysburgh Mirror ROOTS + WINGS HAPPENINGS AT ST. PHILIP'S ANGLICAN CHURCH, MILFORD By Canon David Smith When you receive this edition of The Mirror it will be December so | wish everyone a very Merry Christ- mas. May you and your loved ones experience much joy during this festive season. However, as | write, my heart is in Narnia where it is always winter and never Christmas. In an hour or two | will be on the Mt. Tabor stage assisting the White Witch kill Aslan. An emotional scene to begin with but especially poignant when the murder- er is my daughter and the victim is my wife. Need- less to say C.S. Lewis’s fantastical children’s story has been a tr dous venue for di: ion both at the Smith household and at St. Philip’s church these past few weeks. But it was the real life experience of C. S. Lewis and not a fantasy world that made me think about the true meaning of Christmas. To join in with the Narnia buzz around town, St. Philip’s watched the movie Shadowlands chronicling C.S. Lewis’s un- likely romance (soon to be performed as a play at Mt. Tabor). A confirmed bachelor, Lewis meets an unusual woman under very unusual circumstances yet falls deeply in love. Fittingly, his wife, Joy, brought a joy into his life that he had never experi- enced before. Sadly, after only a few short years, Joy dies and Lewis is confronted with grief. It is a grief that shakes his beliefs to the core and forces him to reex- amine many of his previously held assertions. When Joy came to visit, entered and shared in his life, his experience and appreciation of life was transformed through her love for him. Conversely, when he al- lowed himself to enter into her life stepping outside his safe and comfortable role as an Oxford professor, so he could love her, he was also changed. | suppose this is not that different from many romances but in watching the movie | could not help but feel that Lewis experienced a depth of love that mirrors divine incarnational love, what we call Christ- mas. Firstly, love entered his life. He was surprised by Joy. He was gifted by her love. And when we wor- ship the Christ Child at Christmas we are thanking God for the love we receive through His remarkable grace. We are surprised by joy that God would visit us, enter into our lives and love us even unto death so that we may have life eternal. We sing joy to the world the Lord has come. Secondly, Lewis entered into a new world and became aware of an experi- ence previously unknown, meaning he could say that he knew not only love but also profound sor- row. Mysteriously, Christmas is also about God in Christ entering fully into a new experience and pro- foundly being able to empathize with us, “For we do not have a high priest (Jesus) who is unable to sym- pathize with our own weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are.” (Hebrews 4:15) For me the best way to say thank you for Christ’s incarnational love is to mirror Christmas in our daily lives. That is, to love and to truly enter into the lives of others while leaving the safe spaces we create for ourselves. This love is meeting and listen- ing to people’s stories. This love is compassion and action. This love is hope and sacrifice. This love is joy and sorrow. This love is Christmas love. Office Supplies ‘Canon + Hewlett Packard + Epson * Lexmark + Brother Laser Toner Cartridges \ oF i rh <Printcra}t— www.printcraftltd.ca 26 Cold Storage Rd., Picton * 476-3272 Sasa | iB Open Monday — Friday 8:30 am—5:30 pm jaisaee Copy & Advertising Deadline for the January Edition of The Mirror is December 29th.