Magic Cottage Creations

Magic Cottage Creations
Return to my website.

December 8, 2012

Thinking Of The Nazarene


By Maryanna Gabriel
It has been a long while since I was in Jerusalem. As a younger woman I felt overwhelmed by the maelstrom of people and the fervent concentration of the churches of the world there. The ancient lane-ways and cobblestone streets literally sent me into a swoon. I was overcome by some malady as I strove to steady myself. Later, when I was better, a trip was made to Nazareth. It was a little disappointing. I remember staring at a bland Sea of Galilee, it seemed so nondescript, and there were bubbles on the surface of the water. I don’t know what I expected. Blind illumination. Perhaps some morphic resonance of the sacred. It seemed important to see these places right out of the starting gate of life and it all resounds profoundly regardless, as I listen to Handel's Messiah. Christmas is a time where what is abiding and enduring comes to the fore and all else falls away. What is abiding of course is eternal and that is the unraveling of the great mystery we all must journey.

"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves,
so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves."
Matthew 10:16