What shall we call Him? So often at Christmas time we hear the lament that people have forgotten the real meaning of Christmas. In an attempt to keep that message constantly before my children, and myself during this wonderfully busy time, I started a tradition of studying the names of the Savior. After all, when a couple is expecting a baby, they spend much time pondering a name, so what better way to celebrate our Savior's birth than to focus on His many names?
Good Samaritan
In my search to learn more about the names of Christ, I came across some wonderful surprises. Good Samaritan was one of them. BYU Professor, John Welch, enlightened me in a talk he gave about the Parable of the Good Samaritan. He begins, "This parable’s content is clearly practical and dramatic in its obvious meaning, but a time-honored Christian tradition also saw the parable as an impressive allegory of the Fall and Redemption of mankind.
“. . .The man who was going down is Adam. Jerusalem is paradise, and Jericho is the world. The robbers are hostile powers. The priest is the Law, the Levite is the prophets, and the Samaritan is Christ. The wounds are disobedience, the beast is the Lord’s body, the [inn], which accepts all who wish to enter, is the Church. … The manager of the [inn] is the head of the Church, to whom its care has been entrusted. And the fact that the Samaritan promises he will return represents the Savior’s second coming.
"This allegorical reading was taught not only by ancient followers of Jesus, but it was virtually universal throughout early Christianity, being advocated by Irenaeus, Clement, and Origen, and in the fourth and fifth centuries by Chrysostom in Constantinople, Ambrose in Milan, and Augustine in North Africa. This interpretation is found most completely in two other medieval stained-glass windows, in the French cathedrals at Bourges and Sens."
Reading this article really opened the Parable of the Good Samaritan for me. I am strengthened when I picture myself as the traveler, hurt and broken, and the Lord, the Good Samaritan coming to bind up my wounds. It is easy to for me to imagine because He has bound up my wounds so many times before.
I highly recommend the entire article, “The Good Samaritan: Forgotten Symbols,” John W. Welch, Ensign, Feb 2007, 40–47 which you can find here.
And naturally finding these new truths in an old story, brings a question to my mind. . .what messages are hidden in the other parables, waiting for me when I am ready to receive them? There's a Christmas gift to "unwrap".
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
"It's a Wonderful Life"
I know that some of you are not ready to talk about Christmas yet, but I can't help myself! I love Christmas and I like to start early to make it last as long as possible!
My favorite Christmas movie, my favorite all around movie actually, is the classic "It's a Wonderful Life". Who can resist this wonderful film about loveable George Bailey who wants to be a world traveler but is foiled in his plans time and again. After a particularly bad turn of events he even contemplates suicide. Enter Clarence, the bumbling angel, to show him what the world would be like if he had never been born. The number of lives he had touched is amazing. As you know, he pleads to go back when he sees what a large "hole" is left without him.
I can relate to George's frustration as time after time hardships prevent him from accomplishing his dreams. Please don't misunderstand me. I always wanted to be a wife and mother, and I am. I love that part of my life. My frustrations are in the things that keep me from being the kind of mother I want to be i.e. working and health issues. Another frustration is my bike riding. I have written about how much I love riding my bike, but right now that feels like a distant dream. Because of health issues (blood clots in my lungs), I have missed a few weeks on the bike. About a month ago I could ride 12 miles pretty comfortably, and last Saturday, I struggled to do four, ack. I feel like George when he took that wooden knob from the staircase and almost threw it. I want to gather up my problems and throw them at the walls that hem me in.
I believe most of us feel this way from time to time. Just last night a co-worker was expressing a similar frustration with her life. I wonder if that is what makes this movie such a well-loved classic. Could it be that many of us can relate to the frustration, and discouragement of lost dreams and wishes? Do we long to know that our lives have meaning and purpose even when they are not following our plans? Isn't it a wonderful thought that someone's life may have been touched because you were there?
Unfortuantely, no angel will come and show us the lives that we have made a difference in, but perhaps we could be a "Clarence" for someone else. We could write a letter, or make a phone call and let someone know that our life is better because they were there for us. I can't think of a better Christmas present.
My favorite Christmas movie, my favorite all around movie actually, is the classic "It's a Wonderful Life". Who can resist this wonderful film about loveable George Bailey who wants to be a world traveler but is foiled in his plans time and again. After a particularly bad turn of events he even contemplates suicide. Enter Clarence, the bumbling angel, to show him what the world would be like if he had never been born. The number of lives he had touched is amazing. As you know, he pleads to go back when he sees what a large "hole" is left without him.
I can relate to George's frustration as time after time hardships prevent him from accomplishing his dreams. Please don't misunderstand me. I always wanted to be a wife and mother, and I am. I love that part of my life. My frustrations are in the things that keep me from being the kind of mother I want to be i.e. working and health issues. Another frustration is my bike riding. I have written about how much I love riding my bike, but right now that feels like a distant dream. Because of health issues (blood clots in my lungs), I have missed a few weeks on the bike. About a month ago I could ride 12 miles pretty comfortably, and last Saturday, I struggled to do four, ack. I feel like George when he took that wooden knob from the staircase and almost threw it. I want to gather up my problems and throw them at the walls that hem me in.
I believe most of us feel this way from time to time. Just last night a co-worker was expressing a similar frustration with her life. I wonder if that is what makes this movie such a well-loved classic. Could it be that many of us can relate to the frustration, and discouragement of lost dreams and wishes? Do we long to know that our lives have meaning and purpose even when they are not following our plans? Isn't it a wonderful thought that someone's life may have been touched because you were there?
Unfortuantely, no angel will come and show us the lives that we have made a difference in, but perhaps we could be a "Clarence" for someone else. We could write a letter, or make a phone call and let someone know that our life is better because they were there for us. I can't think of a better Christmas present.
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