The Other Side of Christmas: Incarnation as the Awesome Burden of Opposites

The Incarnation, at the core of the Christian mythos and message, can be celebrated joyfully at Christmas as a union of opposites between human and divine, but one which also ennobles us with the burden of what Jung calls “the divine problem”:  the paradox of divine wrath and love, destruction and renewal.  As Jung puts it, “Christ has shown how everybody will be crucified upon his destiny,” a concept that includes shouldering the opposites in one’s psyche.  At the collective level that cross includes destructive impulses that have become incarnate in the reckless exploitation of the earth for oil and profit.  The threat of global catastrophe from irreversible global warming coexists (paradoxically) with love for the very children and grandchildren who will inherit our planet.