Christmas Reflection
by Martin Harris
John Hapgood in his book 'Varieties of Belief' refers to 'The Ethics of Belief' by W.K.Clifford. He laid down an oft-quoted principle: 'It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.' He was not writing about religion, but it is against religious belief that Clifford is mostly quoted.
Hapgood notes though how devastating it would be if we lived our lives by this principle. Freud would have died unknown; beef on the bone would be perhaps an impossible dream; newspapers would have to be classed as fiction. We might add that Nelson Mandela would never have been known as 'The Smile' by his fellow prisoners and perhaps would never have had the hope to believe in a better tomorrow; and perhaps Martin Luther King would never have been allowed his dream.
Instinctively, we do not live life by Clifford's maxim. We act on hunches, urges, insights. We do so from the mundane things of shopping through to the profound movements for social change.
The reason is not hard to find. We know that it is hard to see the big picture. Some years ago I was looking at a picture in a local gallery. It was not at all impressive - until I stood back. I had been too close. And we know that in so many ways we are too close to have sufficient evidence. So we act from a great deal of hopefully godly instinct in our family lives. We are too close to one another to justify in detail all we do. But that is what life is about. So also Stephen Hawking's impressive life is a struggle to see the big picture of what makes our universe hang together.
The bigger the thing is, the harder it is to see the big picture. How true this is of relationships. How much do we really understand our spouses, children, parents? And how much can we expect to understand of God, who is as complex (and more) as another person, and is as big (and more) than the universe. To which we may add the thought that God is before everything that exists. So to understand God is like trying to explain the real world to the virtual world of a computer, be it Sim City or something much more sophisticated.
In understanding others, we are dependent on what they choose to show us. A smile, a frown, a hug, a word - each says an enormous amount. Whole lives might change as the result of one word.
So at Christmas. A child is born. God shows us himself. Throughout history he had been preparing humankind for this moment. But even so, we cannot see the full picture. For God is drawing us into a relationship. We need only that ability to relate to others that we experience in all friendships. Does not Jesus call his disciples his friends?
So, God became man. We should not expect to fully understand it - as I cannot understand fully anyone. God has shown his face to us. And that is enough. It is all we could ever want.
