Awaiting the Precious Birth
As a child growing up in the 50's, I loved singing Christmas carols and hearing the story about the Baby Jesus. Interestingly, I learned those songs and the story of Christ's birth not at church, but at school. Back in the 1950's, life was a little different. The US was predominantly Christian, so it wasn't unusual to talk about Christmas in school. I don't believe that we should do that in schools in this day and age, considering all the different faiths represented in our country today. (That's a topic for another posting.) But that's how the story reached me.
As a child I was not allowed to attend church, even though my mother was a Spanish teacher at a Catholic school. My father was a "devote" atheist and forbid me to attend church until I was "old enough to make a decision about God on my own." Much to his dismay, I made the choice to be baptized at the age of 14. Even so, I got pretty lost along the way. If you've read my posts, you know that my odyssey to find Christ again has been incredibly circuitous. I consider it a miracle that I have returned to my original faith, maybe not with open arms--I was highly skeptical upon my return--but with a heart that is learning how to stay open and willing to hear the Word.
This year, maybe because I've returned to church, I am experiencing the birth of Christ on a new level. It does feel as if the Child Jesus is being born for the first time. Every part of the story is touching my heart--Joseph and the very pregnant Mary searching for a place to sleep that night in the town of Bethlehem, the shepherds with their sheep and cattle present at the Savior's birth, and the Wise Men who followed a star that led them to a child they believed to be the Messiah.
Is the story true? Was Mary a virgin? Did it really happen this way? I used to make myself crazy pondering these thoughts. My pastor helped me look at Christ's life from a different perspective. He told me about a Biblical scholar who, when asked, "Do you really believe the story of Jesus?" answered, "Well, it's the best story around."
It is the best story. If you have misgivings as to the veracity of every single moment of Jesus's life, stop a moment. Look at the story. Look at what it tells us. It is a story filled with hope, and it starts with the birth of a tiny, innocent babe. I believe that God loved us so much that He wanted to connect with us in a way that would be visceral for Him. He came into the world as one of us, to experience the full range of what it means to be human, and that includes pain and suffering.
Now the connection between the Christmas story and the Easter story makes more sense to me. This God of ours, who love us so deeply, came among us to understand us better. And in that understanding wanted to show, through his incarnation as Jesus, the way back to Him.
Whatever you believe, it is joyful to celebrate the coming of a child, any child into the world. There should always be rejoicing at the birth of a precious infant. That isn't always the case in our world. We must remember this sad truth, and love all children everywhere, and pray for their safety and good health in the name of Jesus Christ. The beauty of Christ's birth is that we can celebrate, knowing that this birth changed mankind forever.
When I attend the 11 p.m. service on Christmas eve at my church, I want to receive the Baby Jesus as the shepherds did that night so many centuries ago, with reverence, awe and a sense of hope that maybe, just maybe the birth of this Child, could bring peace and love into the hearts of all the peoples of the world. Alleluia!*
*This word comes from the Hebrew "hallelu yah". "Hallel" means "praise" in Hebrew, and "Yah" is short for "Yaweh". Alleluia, therefore, means "Praise the Lord!"
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