Have you ever thought about the stark disparity of the first Christmas and the way our culture celebrates Christmas?
Stockings hung on the fireplace; a wreath on the door, presents wrapped under a tree—A baby born in a stable and placed in a feeding troth; homeless refugees fleeing to a foreign land; the slaughter of the innocent.
The scent of fresh-cut cedar and fir; the aroma of warm gingerbread; the smell of candy canes and tangerines—the stench of animal waste; the smell of wet straw; the repugnant odor of poor, unbathed shepherds.
Jingle Bells, Rudolph, and Frosty the Snowman; the tolling of church bells; the laughter of children playing—The disappointment in an innkeeper’s voice; the painful cries of a night of labor; the wails of grief from parents holding their dead babies.
Why the disparity?
Could it possibly be because we are frightened by who true Christmas calls us to be and where true Christmas calls us to go?
Perhaps this is why we go to great lengths every year to cover it up. This is why we decorate it. This is why we tie a bow around it and string it with lights.
True Christmas looks more like the rejected homeless sleeping on the street, the grief-stricken eyes of mourners, and the wearied and anxious faces of refugees.
True Christmas smells more like the stench of a dank prison cell, the foul odor of a nursing home, and the uncleanliness of the very poor.
True Christmas sounds more like the cries of a distraught Alzheimer’s patient, the moaning of an AIDS patient, and the sobbing heard at a funeral.
This year, may we see through the wrappings, glitter and lights and BE the people that Christmas calls us to be and GO to the places Christmas calls us to go.
Just Love 