Gaze deeply

Sometimes I am awestruck in churches where holiness and prayer seem to seep from the very walls. Today I visited St. Luke's in the City, in Christchurch, N.Z. where I was very much 'at home'.





The Christmas Crib was unique and nothing like the 'traditional' figures of Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, shepherds and the assortment of animals found in creches.
This crib grabbed my attention, and it took a while to get my mind around what I was looking at. A tall Advent Candle was centrally placed, and from the candle stand
hung many different Icons depicting the birth of Christ.





According to the parish notices, "The Crib is an invitation to look and see, to see beneath the surface, to penetrate through the veil of the superficial and the trivial, to have the eyes of our hearts opened to the mystery of the Divine Presence in the misdt of human flesh, to apprehend the mystery of Incarnation. Be still. Gaze deeply. Give thanks!"





St. Luke's has two Icon wrting groups each week.