Thereby: The FIFTH Day of Christmas

Last updated on: December 31, 2019 at 1:59 pm by John Mark N. Reynolds

Thereby: The FIFTH Day of Christmas 2019-12-31T13:59:17-04:00 John Mark N. Reynolds

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Thy Nativity, O Christ our God, hath shined the light of knowledge upon the world; for thereby they that worshipped the stars were instructed by a star to worship Thee, the Sun of Righteousness, and to know Thee, the Dayspring from on high. O Lord, glory be to Thee.

We are here, joyously keeping Christmastide, as a result of the “thereby.” God loved us, something nobody could demand, thereby, we have a certain hope. God became human, really human, something no philosopher could imagine, thereby, we have faith in history’s direction. God gave us light, thereby we who were blind, now can see. God granted us knowledge, thereby all our loves can lead to wisdom. God loved the entire world, thereby no truth, no good, and no beauty will be lost.

All is redeemed in Christmas.

We act and yet our actions are constrained by possibility. We can consent and even desire a good thing, but if the possibility is not, then our willing is mere fantasy. No person can live by fantasy: hoping for the impossible is madness. Given a good God, we can hope, look to the improbable, and when God’s will is revealed that hope can become faith. God makes a way, a possibility, thereby we can act.

God’s general will can be known in the law like regularity that He sustains in our cosmos. The beauty and harmony of creation are seen in this orderly pattern. God does not govern by whimsy, but by law, thereby science is possible. We can assume entities should not be multiplied and look for elegance in our theories.The paradigms that form the natural world are beautiful, thereby when we look we see wonder and glory. The wonder makes us think even more, spurring greater knowledge.

The glory is so pervasive, thereby the arts spring forth everywhere. God created all humankind in His Image, thereby the poet can have a muse from any person on Earth. The cosmos is illuminated, thereby nature herself can motivate beauty. We have to work at ugliness, twisting and breaking the goodness and beauty of the cosmos. God gives us the sea, we fill it with plastic.

In the mother of God, our Lady Theotokos, of Bethlehem we see an image of consent and harmony with the will of God. Mary said “yes” to God, but make no mistake: the glory she achieved is only possible in God. Best of all humanity, she is as the moon, reflecting the Divine Light and making the night good.

That all deeds are to the glory of God magnifies our accomplishments by putting them in the context of reality! There can be only one God logically.

As creatures, small beings in a big cosmos, we have limited agency. God presents us with a field of action. He need not have done so. We might have been without choice, longing to create, learn, study, but being given no scope for our imaginations. Instead, God gave us bountiful space within the cosmos and our minds, thereby we are allowed to make film, discover natural laws, and gain insight into the work of other Image bearing humans. This is glorious and God need not have done so, but did. As a result, we can imitate God, as Our Lady did gloriously, and bring forth an Emmanuel, a God with us, to our neighbors, thereby multiplying the joys of Christmas.

Christ is born!

Glorify Him!

Spiritual Reflections

Previous Post

December 28, 2019

Light to All People: The FOURTH Day of Christmas

Next Post

December 30, 2019 The Community of Christmas: The Sixth Day of Christmas

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Apologetics Art Culture Education On Books On Education Philosophy Politics Pop Culture Spiritual Reflections Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 July 2025 June 2025 September 2024 July 2024 June 2024 December 2023 June 2023 September 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was the giant defeated by David?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Goliath Pharaoh Samson Herod

Books by This Author John Mark Reynolds

See All Titles »