christmas: where was it?

i am missing it. sunday evening was warm and clear and i walked around a long time on my way back to the little hut from st. james' din-din--every sunday evening there is a free meal for whomever, very good, sort of my replacement of soup tuesdays except that john and bob make the soup and gloria makes some pasta wonder--and luxuriated in the christmas stars. now comes the hard work of showing forth that light in my life.

tonight i start a six-weeks excursion in christology with the wesleyan quadralateral at the methodist church. i am using as a sort of theme the introduction to john's first epistle:

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."

and as our prayer the old prayer book's collect for the second sunday after christmas:

"ALMIGHTY God, who hast poured upon us the new light of thine incarnate Word; Grant that the same light enkindled in our hearts may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

now that the malls have stopped proclaiming the santa claus season and the light posts of our town are no longer pouring forth the message to buy-buy-buy, it is time for us who call ourselves after the name of the new-born king to explain "what child was this."