christmas

Most Christians find a degree of contradiction in the celebration of Christmas.  It can be seen in our attempts to ‘put Christ back into Christmas’ or in our critique of turning the generosity of gift giving into the materialistic cash cow of the retail industry.  But lying behind these issues is a far more profound contradiction between natural and revealed religion.

As we flew over the Andaman Sea, I was overwhelmed by God's creation. From forty thousand feet the calm beauty of the light playing on the sea and the islands filled me with awe and wonder. I took up my pen and wrote the poem that seemed to spring so naturally to my mind. It was a magic moment of aesthetic creativity.

I have always enjoyed poetry—Donne's sonnets in particular, but up until that moment in the aeroplane I had never been able to write any. This was a...