Advent word - animate

Bit different tonight- a longer reflection, which I read at a carol service at Christie Hospital earlier:

What’s your favourite Christmas film? Is it a black and white classic like It’s a wonderful Life? A timeless classic retold again and again such as A Christmas Carol or a modern feel-good comedy like Elf?
We all have our favourite and the traditions that go with watching them- maybe it’s a full family event, snuggled up in onesies with hot chocolate or mulled wine. Whichever film is our favourite – and we might have several – Christmas films undoubtably have one thing in common: their story arcs are always redemption stories.
In It’s a Wonderful Life George Bailey, contemplating suicide, gets to see how much worse off people would have been without him. He goes back to his family a changed man, ready to face the troubles ahead, and is rewarded with unthinkable kindness.
A Christmas Carol shows Ebenezer Scrooge’s transformation from lonely, unloved miser to the beating heart of his community.
We see in Elf how Buddy’s dad, Walter, a modern-day Scrooge, has his heart transformed through his relationship with Buddy to embrace Christmas and have a loving relationship with both his sons.
These are inevitably the story arcs we want from a good Christmas film – the feel-good factor. These stories of redemption reflect what’s at the heart of the Christmas story itself, although rather than being the story of one person’s redemption it’s the story of everyone’s and it’s achieved through love.
The characters in our films- George, Ebenezer and Walter, don’t redeem themselves; they each need a catalyst, usually driven by love, to help them realise the error of their ways and put them on the path to redemption.
There’s a less well known Christmas Carol whose words are as follows:

Love came down at Christmas
Love, a lovely love divine
Love was born at Christmas
Stars and angels gave the sign

Love will be our token
Love be yours, and love be mine
Love from God to all of us
Love for plea and gift a sign

It’s love that provokes the change in our film characters, love which is central to the message of Christmas, and love that caused the divine to enter our earthly lives as a tiny helpless child, the catalyst that can cause that outpouring of love in each of us.
The Christ Child reminds us of the infinite possibilities of life available to us, and we celebrate that in the season of good cheer, gift-giving, and community.
The enchantment of Christmas and indeed in the Christmas films we love, are a taste of what’s possible if human beings could really love each other. The infant in the manger symbolizes new life and the potential we all have to be dedicated to a love of the other.
As we’re gathered here today to sing it reminded me of something else in Elf which I think reflects the love at the heart of Christmas: The Elf Code, which goes as follows:

1.     Treat Every Day Like Christmas. Every day is a day of endless possibilities.
2.     There's Room for Everyone on the Nice List. No-one is beyond redemption.
3.     The Best Way to Spread Christmas Cheer is Singing Loud for All to Hear.

The Spirit of God animates us, but it all happens in the flesh: every deed of kindness, every act of generosity, every word of encouragement happens in the flesh. Every embodiment of Christ’s grace or truth or love happens in the flesh—or it doesn’t happen.

-Br. Mark Brown