In the Beginning ~ the Third Day of Christmas

The Milky Way 

The Third Day of Christmas is dedicated to St John the Apostle, who is believed to have been the Beloved disciple & is purported to have written John's Gospel, as well as several other books within the New Testament, including the last, The Book of Revelations, although, as ever, these claims are the subject of much debate.

John is said to have been one of those closest to Jesus, witnessing both the Transfiguration and the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. He, alone amongst all the Apostles, is said to have remained at the foot of the Cross with the myrrhbearers and other women. His Gospel is a work of mysticism, quite different from the more narrative styles of the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, & Luke. Fascinatingly, John was often depicted in androgynous or feminised form in medieval art, and in his Gospel identifies Christ as the Word, or Logos, of God; a concept close to that of the Hebrew, Lady Wisdom, just as during his earthly life Jesus referred to all members of the Trinity in feminine terms.

Loathe as I am to vere away from my topic, it feels perhaps gently heart-opening to mention here that medieval anchorite and mystic, Julian of Norwich, often referred to 'Christ our Mother', and that it was not considered unusual to do so in the Middle Ages. See Jenny Bledsoe's 2011 thesis; 'Feminine Images of Jesus: Later Medieval Christology and the Devaluation of the Feminine' for more on this. For a more modern exploration I highly recommend Nicola Slee's 'Seeking the Risen Christa'.

St John the Apostle by Jacques Bellange, c. 1600

Returning to John, his androgynous depiction is certainly something worthy of exploration and reflection, particularly for those of us who are deeply aware of the suppression of the Feminine Divine, which is certainly an issue despite our Medieval sisters' (and brothers') best efforts, but that is not what I want to write about today. Today, I want to share just a few lines from the beginning of John's mystical Gospel.

Although we have passed Solstice, we are still deep in the winter dark and I am craving simplicity and starlight. One of my favourite passages in the Bible comes from John's Gospel and it is a passage that I could spend the rest of my life contemplating without ever feeling the need to turn the page.

I am drawn to John's Gospel especially as it is connected for me with my beloved Cuddy/St Cuthbert. 'Cuthbert's Gospel', an early 8th Century gospel pocket book and the oldest known surviving example of bookbinding in the Western world, was found in Cuthbert's tomb and is dedicated only to the fourth Gospel. Although we cannot know, I like to imagine that Cuthbert of Lindisfarne chose to meditate on John's words above all others. And here are the words I love; like Mary's Magnificat, a life raft in a stormy sea...

St Cuthbert's Gospel 

'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.' (John 1: 1-5, NRSV)

Powerful words for our times, and all times, with layer upon layer of meaning; a passage of Creation, of stars colliding, and of galaxies being born. Here, truly, are words to sink into for comfort, and for liberation. Here, are words for the Resistance.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. In the beginning was the Word...

A universe full of galaxies ~ Cosmos magazine

References:

St John the Apostle ~

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_the_Apostle

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_the_Evangelist

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disciple_whom_Jesus_loved

As androgynous ~

https://www.virginiamollenkott.com/androgynyJesus.html

https://medium.com/@jpisbouts/transgender-motifs-in-leonardos-art-b38438da3bc5

The Gospel of John ~

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_John

https://www.uscatholic.org/church/prayer-and-sacraments/2008/07/into-mystic-with-john

St Cuthbert's Gospel ~

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Cuthbert_Gospel

https://www.malcolmguite.wordpress.com/2014/11/04/cuthberts-gospel-a-new-sonnet

Christ our Mother ~

https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2016/05/god-as-mother.html

https://qspirit.net/julian-norwich-mother-jesus/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_of_Norwich

https://www.christiancentury.org/blog-post/ccblogs-network/julian-norwichs-image-mother-jesus

Jenny Bledsoe; 'Feminine Images of Jesus: Later Medieval Christology and the Devaluation of the Feminine', University of Tennessee, 2011