John 1:1-3

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being."

Reflection by Lillian Daniel

There was one Christmas when we didn't know whether my father would make it home. He was a foreign correspondent, covering the Iran hostage crisis, and I was a nervous kid, because one of my father's journalist friends was being held hostage at the time. I was old enough to figure out that my father could have been one of the ones being held hostage, but instead he stood vigil with the other journalists, month after month, even as Christmas approached.

He arrived home at the last minute exhausted and unwashed in his old safari suit, and he threw his gifts on the coffee table. For me there was a piece of jewelry from Iran, where the gold was a higher carat than we were used to. But I think it was my father's safe homecoming that made that little ring shine more than all others.

And for my mother, he unfurled an Iranian prayer rug. It was frayed and very old, and he treated it with great reverence. He explained the Muslim practice of frequent prayer and let us know that this was no ordinary rug.

At the time it seemed remarkable to me that in the midst of such tension between our two countries, my father would bring this prayer rug to my mother as a Christmas gift. But today, I see it as the perfect gift, and it has a place of honor in my house, a reminder of the joy of Christmas with those you love, and the pain of separation.

So on this day of Jesus' birth, I pray for the peace of Christ that passes all human understanding. And at the risk of stating the obvious on Christmas morning, in the beginning was not the thing, the stuff or the loot. In the beginning was the Word.

We have come to the end of the Advent season. This year we prayed that Advent would be different from what is happening around us in the world. So let us end this season with a prayer for peace, for love among people of all nations and all faiths, and for the gift of understanding.

Hail, to Christ the King, the Prince of Peace.

Prayer

In the beginning was the Word. Allow that Word to live in me, and bring love, light and peace into the word. Amen

About the Author Lillian Daniel is the senior minister of the First Congregational Church, UCC, Glen Ellyn, Illinois. She is the author, with Martin Copenhaver, of This Odd and Wondrous Calling: the Public and Private Lives of Two Ministers.

The Daily Devotional is now on Facebook. Become a fan!

Sign up to receive Daily Devotionals

More items written by the Stillspeaking Writers' Group