posted on December 18

A Meditation for Christmas:

Open to the Christ Child

I thought I had an ulcer…turned out that I was with child…best day ever! And so the adventure began.

In the afterglow of receiving this unexpected news, the ponderings and planning commenced….is it a boy or girl?  What are we going to call him? Wonder if he’ll have green eyes? What theme should the nursery be?  What pediatrician should we choose? Wonder if he’ll be famous?  After months of eager anticipation, wild speculation, and plotting his future, BAAMM, there he was, Kevin, my first-born son, all seven pounds, thirteen ounces, looking very much like a handsome frog.  

Did I mention, babies change everything?

There is a universal mystical, magical nuance of new life that draws us nigh. Our senses overflow with great expectations of hope of virtuous change and second chances, with a peace that comforts as it settles deep into our bones, with joy that abounds, and with profound inexplicable love that warmly enfolds us.

Babies, they change everything.

Babies change attitudes, routines, perceptions, schedules, futures, life styles. They ease gently into our souls with their innocence and fragility, latch their tiny hand around our finger and heart strings for eternity. Their sweet smile takes our breath away, their coos transport us to heavenly places, and their heartbeat against ours leaves an unforgettable imprint beyond compare.

So, how very clever! How incredibly ingenious! That The Word became flesh as a baby boy and moved straight into our neighborhoods and hearts…what a remarkable plan!!  What better strategy to catch our attention, to soften our hearts of stone, to seep into our boneheads than through a baby??  Who doesn’t love a baby?  Who doesn’t push their way closer to the little darling to delight in the whiff of that mesmerizing newborn scent, or to bend low so’s not to miss that sweet cooing, or caress that soft, silky-smooth skin, or, best of all, snuggle that bundle of joy close to your heartbeat??

God’s ingenious plan to send that baby boy of His to us, knowing that we would draw near, worked!  He knew that by our nature, we would be open to the Christ-Baby Child, and in the search of the promised child, we would understand that Emmanuel, God-is-with-us, that the true hope-tiqvah of the world, the Prince of peace-Shalom, a twirl-around-the-room joy, a holy sacrificial love, and life forevermore was in this heavenly gift. 

And gifts, to be appreciated, applied, and cherished, must be opened.  Advent is the season that allows us the opportunity to open and claim the embodiment of hope, peace, joy, and love through the Christ Child, even among the brokenness of the world. We are called to continue to pray for and work toward that fulfilment as we wait for the day of Christ’s fulfillment.

Open the gift of the Christ Child…it is then you will be open to receive and in turn, offer these gifts of hope, peace, joy, and love to whosoever.

Babies change everything.

Enticed by love, they came to see God in human frailty, a newborn babe at purest birth delivered, squirming to the earth.  This promised child clutched in his hand salvation sent at God’s command. But with salvation death was brought, and pain and suffering too, were caught entangled in his tiny palm; flailed silently into the calm of the night that held, so innocently, the Man who’d set his people free.  Rebekah Tempest
 
Best day ever…
 
Open to our Christ-Child. Merry Christmas.
 
Kim Eller
District Lay Leader
Northern Piedmont District