“Oxymoron!” sounds insulting doesn’t it? Oxymorons can be coined to insult and crack jokes, but they can beautifully hold two seeming opposites / contradictions together in one mysterious and marvellous truth.

‘Shopping Heaven’ is an oxymoron for me, ‘Hell’ coming to my mind long before ‘Heaven’, but for some of you there is no contradiction there. An oxymoron combines two normally contradictory terms. Oxymoron comes from Greek’s oxy (“sharp”) and moros (“dull”), the word oxymoron itself an oxymoron. So, now we know where the insult “You Moron!” comes from. What distinguishes oxymorons from other paradoxes and contradictions is that they’re used intentionally for linguistic effect, like: “cruel to be kind”; Pretty ugly; Alone together; Deafening silence; Same difference; Jumbo shrimp; Government organization; Microsoft Works; Military Intelligence, etc.

Coronavirus is to be respected as a virulent and dangerous scourge on our planet, but it is also an ‘oxymoron’ and not to be allowed the godlike fear-inducing ultimate authority it sometimes seems to demand. Coronavirus is named for its microscopic likeness to a ‘crown’. Like the aura sometimes surrounding sun or moon the coronavirus’s spikes resemble a crown. But that’s as far as the comparison goes. Covid-19 is powerful & world changing but does not have universal dominion. Fortunately, vaccines are being rolled out around the world to prove this and ultimately vanquish Coronavirus, however many strains mutate.

So, where does supreme Corona Kingship lie? Can Presidents Biden or Putin, Prime Minister Johnson or First Minister Sturgeon claim such power and influence? Powerful and important as these people and their governments are, the Bible celebrates one who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords in the real life Game of Thrones. Trusting in Jesus as The Corona (Crowned) Christ, with overarching authority, drives out fear of other threatening pretenders to that throne. And yet, Christ comes that first Christmas and throughout his earthly life, death and resurrection as ‘Servant King’, Oxymoron of all oxymorons!

“Like your landlord becoming your lodger,

Like your managing director up before you for an interview

Like Beethoven queuing up for a ticket to his own concert

Like a headmaster getting the belt

Like a good architect living in a slum built by a rival

Like Picasso painting by numbers –

God lived among us.” (Steve Turner)

Gobsmacking, Mysterious, Marvellous: Life and World Transforming Truth.