By Wendy Choy-Chan

2020 was a year of conflicts, here in many parts of the world including the US and Hong Kong. 2020 was a year of unrest, going through change after change with the Covid pandemic. 2020 was a year of testing of our faith, hoping that this time would soon pass. 

We cried out, “Maranatha, Come, Our Lord – Come deliver us from the here to the hereafter, from change to the changeless, from this time to eternity.” Yet, often it seemed, Jesus did not come in 2020.

On Christmas Day, I was reading Amor Dei – A Study of the Religion of St Augustine by John Burnaby:

“Love … breaks the line between the here and the hereafter, between change and the changeless, time and eternity. It is peace in conflict, contemplation in the midst of action, sight piercing through faith. For in love the divine meets the human: Heaven comes to earth when Christ is born, and man rejoices in the Truth” (P82).

Yes, in the here of the ever-changing time, we — Christians and the Church — can also “break the line” with the love of God. I too have witnessed it in 2020. As people from opposite sides of the political spectrum came together to pray during prayer meetings, the line was broken and there was peace in conflict. As we worshipped online in our own living rooms every Sunday, the line was broken and there was rest in the midst of labor. As we held Bible study through Zoom, the line was broken and the Word of God gave us eyes to see in faith. Because of the love of God, we had experienced the hereafter, the changeless and eternity. 

On Christmas Day as I read this timely message in Amor Dei, I too rejoiced. Even though Christ has not come yet, he came 2000 years ago. Heaven came to earth when Christ was born and heaven has stayed with us in the love of God through the Spirit, in us and in the Church, the Body of Christ. Let us rejoice. Let us share the love of God with those who are in conflict, labor and darkness. 

Wendy Choy-Chan came to North America from Hong Kong when she was 15. After graduating with a MScE, she worked as a telecommunications engineer for a few years before becoming a full-time mom. She earned her MA in Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary in 2016, and is now pursuing a D.Min in Affective Spirituality and Christian Formation at Multonmah Biblical Seminary. Wendy lives in Seattle, WA with her husband and two daughters.