Baggage and Fear

Baggage and fear.

Two things that get carried through Advent and grow at the same time. Today I am caused to wonder about these twins - through the story on the edge of the Christmas tale, that of Herod.

Here is a man that carries both baggage and fear: the baggage of being a roman puppet king, the fear that his power could disappear any moment, the baggage of personal failure in relationships and the fear that those who come to him might undermine his position - and no doubt many other things beside. His holding on and his terror causes him to enact a wicked law which leads to the slaughter of innocents. No wonder we tend to skip over this part of the narrative. I find myself having to pause at this point as our own news media have brought the story in recent days of the slaughter of innocents in a Pakistani school. Our hearts stop at this horror - our anger rises at the perpetrators. An act committed out of fear and the weight of assumed religious responsibility. A mourners simple placard reminds us that "Terror is not a faith".

In being drawn into the first or twenty first century story it would be easy to ignore baggage and fear on a personal level.

I wonder how many people carry the baggage of expectation this season? Someone expects them to behave in a particular way - maybe it's the friends who expect riotous behaviour from the mild, maybe it's a selfish spouse who expects more than can be given, maybe it is baggage from childhood that makes this time of year a burden. 

And what about fear? There are those that fear the actions of those close to them that over indulge, there is fear for some in every purchase and every keying in of their credit card PIN number - knowing they will never afford this Christmas.

The essence of advent, the sense of Christmas is in love - and perfect loves throws fear into the rubbish bin. The astronomers seek the one born King of the Jews in order to lavish Him with worship and their love; Jesus in sent into the world to show how much God lives the world.

His perfect love casts out fear, releases the baggage and leads to the most beautiful freedom of spirit imaginable.