Calvin Synod Herald, 1988 (88. évfolyam, 1-5. szám)
1988 / 2-5. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD-ÍZ-REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA CHRISTMAS Be not afraid; for behold I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a savior, who is Christ the Lord! GREETINGS Dear Friends: We change with age, as we should. As we grow we trade one ambition for another. New expectations replace the old. And all the while more and more things are expected of us. We take an ever increasing responsibility as parents, as adults, as Christians. And in the light of maturity Christmas becomes not merely a time of joy, but a time of testing. How often as Christmas nears, we hear people say: “1 just can’t get the Christmas spirit this year.” The words are usually said in a sadly resigned tone, as if the conclusion reached were somebody else’s fault. Actually it is a revealing confession because it describes a dangerously undernourished soul. But we can regain Jesus in a moment - the moment we open our hearts and arms and embrace Him. We can lose Him too, but that usually happens little by little when we fail to continuouosly turn to Him in selfexamination, repentance and prayer for His guidance. The Wise men accepted the guidance of the star which they saw while they were engaged in their daily or nightly work. We can best see the start of God's revelation, not when we withdraw in philosophic speculation but when we are actively and faithfully at work at our daily task. The Wise men had to leave their security and comfort to venture with abandon toward an unseen goal. We will need to have faith and the courage to launch out on an adventure of mind and heart, if we want to arrive to our Bethlehem. The journey in itself is hazardous. The barriers of the nature and the craftiness of Herod are still existent today. Today there are obstacles that keep us from reaching our goal: family responsibilities, illness, circumstances beyond our control and the power structures of contemporary Herods. It was into a real world that the Lord Jesus came, into the city where there was no room for Him, and into a country where Herod the murder of innocents, was the king. He comes to us, not to shield us from the harshness and Searching among writings of the late Middle Ages I found this salutation. The author is Fra Giovanni, the year 1513. "SALUTATION. 1 salute you: There is nothing 1 can give you which you have not; But there is much, that, while I cannot give, you can take. No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it today. "TAKE HEAVEN. No peace lies in the future whch is not hidden in the present. "TAKE PEACE. The gloom of the world is but a shadow; behind it, yet within our reach, is joy; "TAKE JOY. "And so at this Christmas time, I greet you, with the prayer that for you, now and forever, the day breaks and the shadows flee away.” Christmas celebrations of Hungarians dispersed all over the world and weeping for their Transylvanian brothers and sisters sentenced for extenction is covered with gloom. The divine Messenger, however, carries in Himself hidden the peace of the future which is the promise of joy for our comfort and for our strength-giving hope. And so, at this Christmas time of 1988 1 greet our Hungarian Reformed people in America and all our Hungarian brothers and sisters with the prayer for the joy of peace. Andrew Harsanyi, bishop cruelty of the world, but to give us the courage and strength to bear it; not to snatch us away by some miracle from the conflict of life, but to give us peace which the world cannot give. Christmas is a time when God calls us to cast out our fears concerning what the world is coming to, and to take heart over what has come to the world. May His Spirit abide in us and enrich our lives not only during the Christmas season but through the coming years. yours in Christ: Zoltán Király, bishop f
