For at least half of the Christmas seasons I have spent as married woman, I’ve been newly pregnant or fresh-grieving the loss of a babe.
I identify with Mary very closely. I keep thinking of her physical feelings, her emotions at being an (unmarried) first time mother. (By the way – how do you think that conversation with the parents went?) Closing my eyes and thinking of her in labor. In a cave/stable/animal dwelling. The smell, the temperature, the dust, the pain. Cleaning, or trying to clean him. Nursing him for the first time. How sweet that moment is. Or scary, or frustrating, or overwhelming.
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These words have stuck out to me in my Bible reading this week. In context, this is Elizabeth speaking to Mary. When Mary came to visit Elizabeth, the unborn child in Elizabeth’s womb lept for joy as soon as Mary’s voice reached her ears. Elizabeth told Mary she was blessed, because she believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to her.
Advent is nearly over. I’ve been waiting, reaching, hoping, trusting, battling to stay full of faith in this season. I’ve been waiting for the Christ child, He who is coming, but has already come, and will continue to come again and again to my tired and weary soul.
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I’m guessing the manger wasn’t on Mary’s birthplan.
We like to sanitize the nativity story in our imaginations. Mary kneels calmly over the manger, with cattle lowing and Baby Jesus asleep on the hay. Joseph leans on his staff in quiet awe while shepherds and peaceful sheep stare in wonder. We forget the work of birth that comes in blood and sweat and tears. What was it like for Mary, that first Christmas night? Did her mother go with them on that three-day journey to Bethlehem, or was she alone with this man she’d been married to for less than six months?
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Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV)
I’ve been thinking a lot about being new, about the biblical notion of having a transformed mind. My life is different lately; hectic even, and though our circumstances are changed; I am moreso.
In only 6 short weeks, my career and my professional learning curve went from long-stalled to back in full motion. My new job is a smaller role than I’ve had previously, but coming back from nothing professionally for seven years, I am truly grateful to have been provided the opportunity to work in my field, learn, and contribute again.
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My heart skips with each flip of the Advent Calendar and I wonder when it switched. When the act of waiting turned to scurrying. When the anxiousness of getting there transformed into wanting more time before it arrives.
As I’m lost in my thoughts, this song comes on the radio…
God rest ye merry, gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay,
Remember, Christ, our Savior
Was born on Christmas Day
To save us all from satan’s power
When we were gone astray…
How have I missed it? The archaic verbiage doesn’t help, but why have I thought this struggle of rushing was a new thing when they’ve been singing about it for more than 200 years?
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When Angel’s Sing
Shepherds stand on the dark hillsides outside Bethlehem, working a job few wanted and none respected. The glory of God cracks open the night sky with news that will change the world.
“Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).
No ordinary night.
Shocked to the core at this unimaginable sight, the shepherds respond with urgency,”Let us go straight to…and see.” Wonder turns to action as they leave in haste, seeking to find this child, born to save the hearts of men.
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Jesus replied, “With all the earnestness I possess I tell you this: Unless you are born again, you can never get into the Kingdom of God.”
-From The Gospel of John Chapter 3
The birth of Jesus is the focus of Christmas to we who believe. At least in theory. But, the beauty of Christmas is that this tiny mysterious bundle of wisdom swaddled in hay, laying in manger one Holy Night has birthed an undeniable kingdom as prophesied from the beginning.
The beauty of Christmas is not in this one freeze frame, iconic, Christmas card image but in the powerful truth behind the picture.
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What made them bow before a toddler? I quickly reached for a pen when I heard that question posed to the church congregation. (Sadly, I did not hear the rest of the message because this post was being unintentionally written in my head.) There was something jarring about it that resonated with me, and being a lover of words, this little sentence was a great one that I knew I would be exploring further.
The stories of the nativity tend to have a fairytale feeling to them don’t they? We hear them so often and many of us heard them first when we were children.
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