God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
1 Corinthians 1:28-29
Christmas can be so commercialized and focused on the gifts and the selfish wants. The emphasis is so engrained in us we barely notice it. Something missing is the humility and joy of simplicity of Christmas. We may have in our minds the scene - a neatly tucked baby in a bed of hay. Gentle goats and sheep surrounding the bed. Mary calm and peaceful. Joseph standing assertively, watching keenly. Whether Jesus was in a bed of hay or a blow up air mattress, it was a humble beginning.
That is the point.
There is more joy to be had in the simple, humble things of life. It does not need to be filled with frills and luxury. Yet we have made that an essential piece, and it tends to make things more complicated. Our earthly perspective has done so. Jesus shows us our views are quite tilted, in fact, upside down from that of the heavenly realm. What we deem important in this earthly life is sometimes not what matters eternally. There is something deeper He wants us to see, but we have to be willing to clear our vision of the worldly things and the hold they have on us.
It is difficult to clear our vision because we know the story so well.
Let's look at an alternate view to freshen our Christmas views - Merry Christmas!
The Man Born to be King, by Dorothy L. Sayers
Play-cycle Published 1943
Caspar: Alas! the more we know, the less we understand life. Doubts make us afraid to act, and much learning dries the heart. And the riddle that torments the world is this: Shall Wisdom and Love live together at last, when the promised Kingdom comes?
Melchior: We are rulers, and we see that what men need most is good government, with freedom and order. But order puts fetters on freedom, and freedom rebels against order, so that love and power are always at war together. And the riddle that torments the world is this: Shall Power and Love dwell together at last, when the promised Kingdom comes?
Balthazar: I speak for a sorrowful people - for the ignorant and the poor. We rise up to labour and lie down to sleep, and night is only a pause between one burden and another. Fear is our daily companion - the fear of want, the fear of war, the fear of cruel death, and of still more cruel life. But all this we could bear if we knew that we did not suffer in vain; that God was beside us in the struggle, sharing the miseries of His own world. For the riddle that torments the world is this: Shall Sorrow and Love be reconciled at last, when the promised Kingdom comes?
Mary: These are very difficult questions - but with me, you see, it is like this. When the Angel's message came to me, the Lord put a song in my heart. I suddenly saw that wealth and cleverness were nothing to God - no one is too unimportant to be His friend. That was the thought that came to me, because of the thing that happened to me. I am quite humbly born, yet the Power of God came upon me; very foolish and unlearned, yet the Word of God was spoken to me; and I was in deep distress, when by Baby was born and filled my life with love. So I know very well that Wisdom and Power and Sorrow can live together with Love; and for me, the Child in my arms is the answer to all the riddles.
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