The glory and grandeur of Christmas has passed us by. The wrapping paper is in garbage bins. The more-boring toys lay almost forgotten. Industrious children are already working out the basics to next year's letters to Santa.
People worry about losing the spirit of Christmas to marketers and politicians. I also fear losing the spirit of Christmas to religious spectacle. The aura and the grandeur of the universal Church celebrating the birth of God' son is overwhelming. It can be hard to remember the concrete reality that this is all the birth of a single man born 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem.
Forget the Star. Forget the Choruses of Angels. Forget the Wise Men. Forget the impending wrath of Herod.
The Son of God took on one of the most powerless form's in the Universe- a human baby. His mother pulled him in close to her breast to shelter her baby boy from the challenges of the world.
Most of us have held a newborn baby in our arms. Whether father, mother, family, or friends: we've cradled them in our arms. Felt their breath against our skin. Told them that we loved them and promised them that everything is going to be alright.
That's the concrete reality that I worry about losing. That a baby was born that was unlike any other baby, before or since. But also, completely like every other baby before or since. As Steve Earle sang, "[T]he miracle they prized was nothing but a child."
That birth would be followed by a life, crucifixion, and then a glorious resurrection. A small religion on the outskirts of the Roman Empire would expand across the world. In the grandeur of all that came after, we cannot lose the incredible beauty of that humble beginning.
The Son of God could have came down from Heaven to announce himself in a chariot of fire, but he chose to give up all of his power for the shelter of his mother's arms.
From Father Hans Kung's On Being Christian:
Christian does not mean everything that is true, good beautiful, human.
Who could deny that truth, goodness, beauty and humanity exist also
outside Christianity? But everything can be called Christian which in
theory and practice has an explicit, positive reference to Jesus.
A Christian is not just any human being with genuine conviction, sincere
faith and good will. No one can fail to see that genuine conviction, sincere
faith and good will also exist outside of Christianity. But all those can be
called Christian for whom life and death in Jesus Christ is ultimately decisive.
Christian Church does not mean just any meditation and action group, any
any community of committed human beings who try to lead a decent life in
order to gain salvation. It could never be disputed that commitment, action
meditation, a decent life and salvation can exist also in other groups outside
the Church. But any human community, great or small, for whom Jesus Christ
is ultimately decisive can be called a Christian Church.
Christianity does not exist wherever inhumanity is opposed and humanity
realized. It is a simple truth that inhumanity is opposed and humanity realized
also outside of Christianity - among Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists,
among post-Christian humanists and outspoken atheists. But Christianity
exists only where the memory of Jesus Christ is activated in theory and practice.
NOTE: If you can, please take a second and sign this petition to President Obama to make improving the system of diagnosing serious mental illnesses a national priority. We cannot prevent all tragedies, but I believe God wants us to do our best to try. Suffering will always be with us, but we must do our best to relieve it.
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