not too much

1 January 2006
The feast of the Naming and Circumcision of Christ.
The first Sunday after Christmas.
New Year's Day
. . . of all these, it is the naming of Christ that resonates with me.

Philippians 2.5-11: Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death--even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
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I'll let this picture stand for my resolution this year (which I actually made at Advent, the beginning of the church year).

A Young Man at Prayer (mid 1470s), by Hans Memling (worked: 1465; died: 1494; National Gallery, London): "This portrait of an unidentified young man at prayer is likely to have formed the left-hand side of a small devotional picture. The open book, probably a Book of Hours or other devotional book, suggests that after a period of prayer and meditation the young man has looked up to see a vision of the object of his devotions, perhaps the Virgin and Child, which may have been shown in the right-hand panel." (Oil on oak 39 x 25.4 cm.)