CHRISTINA'S WORLD
Last Sunday, George Quassis of Gifts from Bethlehem, set up a beautiful display of woodcarvings to sell in our cafeteria. Cribs, crosses, rosaries, etc. made by Christian families from Bethlehem and other areas of the Holy Land. All made from brances of olive trees, some nearly 2,000 years old, connecting the mind to the birth of Jesus at a time when this olive wood began to grow...connecting to the manger maybe or the cross on Calvary. Or the olive leaf of peace in the dove's beak coming back to the Ark. All on the fourth Sunday of Advent, the four candles aflame in anticipation of Christmas. Good preparations, surely.
On Thursday, little Carissa Schlichting, a special child, came with her family with gifts for Sacred Heart, Nipper, the dog, and me. Her gift for me good as angels on high come down to give. She wrote these words when she and other children were asked to write to soldiers on Veteran's Day. This is what she wrote and it's not easy for her to write: "Dear Heroes: Don't kill people. Carissa" Words born in the manger and written in blood in a garden of olive trees; the cry from the cross forever.
Christmas brings us to our knees to see God in a child and the principle of divine science that shows us the power of weakness. We look down to look up because up is down to reach and touch.
The little crib is set in the church, calling us to the reverence and simplicity of a Carissa. I will show her the new dome erected over the altar...a blue sky with clouds, inviting us to look through an oval curvature into the cosmic wonders beyond. It has a star too! A picture of life itself painted by Othmar Carli and erected by Don Harle and Willie Barnes. It has two angels on the back which no one sees, painted by Linda Delengowski and Andrea Ferich. It is erected in memory of Christina DeLarge-Morgan, faithful member of Sacred Heart Church who died on May 16, 2005. The first woman to become a Trustee of Sacred Heart Parish and the first African-American.
It is a view of Christina's world above the ache of this one and it will be seen for the first time on Christmas Eve: Christina's birthday. She was born on December 24, 1941. So Christina! It's for you! Maya Angelou says it right: "Into the daybreak that's wondrously clear. I rise."
May we all! Happy Christmas!
