wfn.org | Christmas message from the Archbishop of Canterbury to the

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ACNS 3912     |     ENGLAND	|     17 NOVEMBER 2004

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Christmas message from the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Anglican Communion

A few weeks ago, I took part in a discussion that involved a number of
people working with children and young people who suffer from different
forms of 'autism' - the kind of disorder that seems to cut people off
from ordinary communication and shows itself in strange repetitive
behaviours and sometimes in violent outbursts. We watched a video
showing the work of one of the most experienced therapists in Britain,
and then heard her talking about what she is trying to do with her
methods.

The first thing we saw on the video was a young man, severely disturbed,
beating his head against a wall, and then walking fast up and down the
room, twisting and flicking a piece of string. The therapist's first
response was strange: she began to twist and flick a piece of string as
well. When the young man made a noise, so did she; when he began to do
something different, like banging his hand on a table, she did the same.

The video showed what happened over two days. By the end of the two
days, the boy had begun to smile at her and to respond when touched. A
relation had been created. And what the therapist said about it was
this. Autism arises when the brain senses too much material coming in,
too much information. There is a feeling of panic; the mind has to
regain control. And the best way of doing this is to close up on
yourself and repeat actions that are familiar; do nothing new, and don't
acknowledge anything coming from outside. But when the therapist gently
echoes the actions and rhythms, the anxious and wounded mind of the
autistic person sees that there is after all a link with the outside
world that isn't threatening. Here is someone doing what I do; the world
isn't just an unfamiliar place of terror and uncertainty. And when I do
this, I can draw out an answer, an echo; I'm not powerless. And so
relationship begins.

To see this sort of thing in action is intensely moving. This is real
mental and spiritual healing at work. But it gives us a powerful image
of what it is we remember at Christmas.

Human beings are wrapped up in themselves. Because of that great
primitive betrayal that we call the Fall of humanity, we are all afraid
of God and the world and our real selves in some degree. We can't cope
with the light. As John's gospel says, those who don't want to respond
to God fear and run away from the light. But God acts to heal us, to
bring us out of our isolation - which is as bizarre and self-destructive
as that young man beating his head against the wall. And he does this in
a way that is just like the therapist in the video. He does what we do;
he is born, he grows up, he lives for many years a life that is ordinary
and prosaic like ours - he works, he eats, he sleeps. Here is ultimate
love, complete holiness, made real in a back street in a small town. And
when he begins to do new and shocking things, to proclaim the Kingdom,
to heal, to forgive, to die and rise again - well, we shouldn't panic
and run away because we have learned that we can trust him. We know he
speaks our language, he has responded to our actions and our words, he
has echoed to us what we are like.

Christ does not save the world just by his death on the cross; we
respond to that death because we know that here is love in human flesh,
here is the creator's power and life in a shape like ours. As we read
the gospels, we should think of God watching us moment by moment,
mirroring back to us our human actions - our fears and our joys and our
struggles - until he can at last reach out in the great gestures of the
healing ministry and the cross. And at last we let ourselves be touched
and changed.

That's what begins at Christmas. Not a doctor coming in with a needle or
a surgeon with a knife, but a baby who has to learn how to be human by
watching; only this baby is the eternal Word of God, who is watching and
learning so that when he speaks God's transforming word we will be able
to hear it in our own human language. He is God so that he has the
freedom to heal, to be our 'therapist'. He is human so that he speaks in
terms we can understand, in the suffering and delight of a humanity that
he shares completely with us. And now we must let him touch us and tell
us that there is a world outside our minds - our pride and fear and
guilt. It is called the Kingdom of God.

May the blessing of Christ our incarnate King be with you all at this
season.

+Rowan Cantuar

(c) 2004 Rowan Williams

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