Beginnings are important, and we all have our stories about beginnings.
Consider, for example, your earliest memories. These memories, no doubt, are formative and cherished. Through them you begin to make sense of your own existence and find in these memories something far more than nostalgia. Rather, these first memories help you understand your family, or love, or your subsequent direction and decisions in life. Beginnings impact so many aspects of our lives.
Likewise, you probably could tell stories about your own beginning in ministry—where you were when you experienced the call or God, what you were doing, why the call was so powerful—and you could tell stories about the people you have known and where you were when you first met. Romance is this way as are careers, adoptions and friendships.
That’s how the Gospel of John begins…with a poetic affirmation of these beginnings that reach far back into creation itself. This gospel begins with the idea that God proclaimed His love for the world before time began. The first thing was the proclamation, the revelation, the Word. Subsequently, this Word made all things possible.
That is also why Christmas is celebrated near the winter equinox, when people (at least in the northern hemisphere) can be reminded God’s love was present before time began, in darkness. This is also a promise to us when our days seem bleak and hopeless, when we long for the light of God.
Consider not only your own beginnings today, but also the love that makes all beginnings possible. This is what Christmas is about—the love which was proclaimed before our own beginnings. It is also the love that compels us forward and gives us hope. It is the love that lights our path.
