See the creative and beautiful crib scenes! There's a tranquil Mary and a proud Joseph, a baby in a manger and wide-eyed shepherds.
Notice the clean carefully arranged straw, plaintive songs, and admiring kings.
The whole atmosphere says, "Stop! Take a breath for a minute and enjoy the beauty, this is the way it was."
In our imagination, we have constructed a scenario that whenever God draws near to us or our world, it will be accompanied by serenity and warm, fuzzy feelings.
We almost expect a melodious combination of "Silent Night," "Hail to the Chief," and Handel's "Messiah."
Yes, it's true that the birth of Jesus Christ was the most stupendous occurrence in the history of the world.
And when we try and depict it, it is natural that we do it with extraordinary beauty and creativity. Reality seems too harsh at times.
Historically, however, reflection on the reality of God's Son's coming will stun us almost beyond belief. Yet the actual facts will teach us an important truth.
The first Christmas was as ordinary, messy and full of problems as our lives are at times.
Consider some of the elements involved:
* A man, Joseph, distressed about the origin of his wife's pregnancy and what he would do about it.
* A woman, Mary, living an ordinary life and somewhat confused by these strange events, "How can this be for I do not know man?"
* A Roman law that made them travel in the last weeks of pregnancy; the physical inconvenience of the trip; the fears of highway robbers.
* No place to stay when they got there.
* The stable for a birthplace, smells of manure, efforts to keep the baby warm enough and where to find food and medical attention if necessary.
If we let ourselves overlook all these aspects we emasculate the Incarnation. We strip it of its utter humanness and meaning.
God really did become like us in all things except sin. Christianity believes he became just like you and me, problems, emotions, frustrations and all.
The coming of God at the first Christmas was mind-boggling. But the circumstances were oh, so earthly and commonplace.
Humanly, it was a combination of stress, worry, and uncertainty.
There was a human messy-ness to it, the same factors that frequently challenge our faith and shake our lives.
It benefits us to remember all this about the coming of God into our lives.
Most of the time we are unaware of what is happening within us as we deal with the messy-ness of our lives.
We expect, if we believe in God, that life will go easy on us. That there will be a certain softness, predictability and reasonableness.
We expect the coming of God in us to be clean and pretty. No labor pains. And it is to happen in a chapel with beautiful organ music in the background.
Actually, when God comes to us it doesn't always feel enjoyable. They are the times when our self-sufficiency is eroded and our egos broken open and our hearts hurt.
The situations are so varied: a woman whose husband suddenly leaves her for another woman; a couple with a sick infant; a single mother; a person struggling with depression; a man whose lost a job after 30 years; a marriage floundering; a woman with a suspicious mammogram; parents worrying about their son or daughter; a death in the family.
Even psychologists indicate that it is in the hardest times of our lives that we have the opportunity to grow the most.
And in these smelly, difficult, wearisome times, God wants to be born in the hearts of imperfect humans.
It is then that our hearts are stretched to be more open to what is beyond this world and God's love for us.
The gifts given to us from difficult times are the gifts exemplified in the way Christ lived our human existence - with compassion, forgiveness, sensitivity to others, understanding, and an authentic belief.
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