Christmas Leftovers

I had not intended to enter the bloggers version of the witness protection program. But I disappeared for ten days or so because of Christmas busyness and then a nasty cold. So I have some Christmas leftovers.

The Saturday before Christmas the Globe and Mail newspaper included two supposedly unrelated articles about caves. Actually, one was about a 27-kilometre-long tunnel in Switzerland where the search is on for the theoretical, sub-atomic twinkle in the eyes of physicists dubbed the "God Particle." This tiny particle may help explain mass --or not -- and raises interesting questions about the origins of everything, a quest which excites both physicists and theologians. John Polkinghorne, a former Cambridge particle physicist who resigned his prestigious chair to become an Anglican priest is interviewed in the article on the wonder of researching the essence of our existence.

The other article was about the birth of Jesus in a grotto, or a cave, the sheltering place for shepherds and sheep in the Bethlehem region to this day. The author is inspired by G.K. Chesterton, the mystery writer of a century ago, and a great Christian. I quote the author:

Incubated in the earth, from the subterranean recesses of mankind's collective mythologizing, the God-child is born:" on a dark and curtained stage, sunken out of sight," the Incarnation, "glory in the darkness," turns myth into real history.

Tiny Jesus in the grotto gives weight to God-with-us.

These articles about physics and metaphysics spoke to me of the great mystery of God who is both cosmic and incarnational, the wonder of the universe and the wonder of a helpless infant.