This close to...
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This close to Christmas we are led to think of children and their welfare. There is a lot of anxiety in America about them and about the future. A 2012 poll conducted by Politico indicates that 3 in 5 Americans are pessimistic that their children will have things worse than their parents do at present. Since 2007, the median household income has fallen for American families by almost 10%. It is good that Christ is coming, as this prophecy of his birth testifies.
In the presence of our Lord, when we open our eyes to his presence in our lives, many of the things that trouble us do not seem quite as important. His kindness creates happiness. That's why this is the season to be jolly, and why we feel happier at Christmas. John Calvin reflected on this point in one of his Commentaries (Vol. XIV/2, p. 307): "He so calls him [Christ] because he will drive away all hurtful things... for he had reconciled us to the Father." With all the hurts removed, what is left is a life of joy and confidence, as compellingly described by Martin Luther:
But if you possess [this Christmas] faith, you heart cannot do otherwise than laugh for joy and grow free, confident, and courageous. Or how can the heart remain sorrowful and dejected when it entertains no doubt of the God's kindness to it, and of his attitude as a good friend with whom it may unreservedly and freely enjoy all things?
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 3/2, p. 146)
Neurobiology bears out these observations about the joy associated with a loving God. Such a vision of the deity short-circuits stress and guilt, and so effectively shuts down the back part of the brain, capturing the attention and stimulating the prefrontal cortex so that significant doses of the good-feeling brain chemical dopamine saturate the whole brain and our sensations (Andrew Newberg and Mark Waldman, How God Changes Your Brain).
In the presence of our Lord, when we open our eyes to his presence in our lives, many of the things that trouble us do not seem quite as important. His kindness creates happiness. That's why this is the season to be jolly, and why we feel happier at Christmas. John Calvin reflected on this point in one of his Commentaries (Vol. XIV/2, p. 307): "He so calls him [Christ] because he will drive away all hurtful things... for he had reconciled us to the Father." With all the hurts removed, what is left is a life of joy and confidence, as compellingly described by Martin Luther:
But if you possess [this Christmas] faith, you heart cannot do otherwise than laugh for joy and grow free, confident, and courageous. Or how can the heart remain sorrowful and dejected when it entertains no doubt of the God's kindness to it, and of his attitude as a good friend with whom it may unreservedly and freely enjoy all things?
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 3/2, p. 146)
Neurobiology bears out these observations about the joy associated with a loving God. Such a vision of the deity short-circuits stress and guilt, and so effectively shuts down the back part of the brain, capturing the attention and stimulating the prefrontal cortex so that significant doses of the good-feeling brain chemical dopamine saturate the whole brain and our sensations (Andrew Newberg and Mark Waldman, How God Changes Your Brain).
