On Christmas day I was reading the Christmas readings for midnight, dawn, and daytime liturgies. Something I have read for many years stopped me in my tracks. The Angel tells the Shepherds : “Behold I proclaim the good news of great joy that will be for all the people…For today a Savior is born for you who is Christ and Lord”…and suddenly a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.” Other years that joyful news flowed over me in the magic of Christmas, on a night when it seemed everyone was so happy. But this year I was stunned by the words—confused, and sobered. I found myself shaken by the world’s reality., I found myself saying to God, not angrily but sadly: “This angel message seems incongruous. This year I know of at least five people personally who are having the worst Christmas of their lives---desperate illness, families torn apart and not speaking—and meanwhile there IS not peace in this world. Horrific wars rage around our planet. Governments run by lies, greed, and dishonesty continue to oppress the poor, the immigrant, the outcast, the powerless. The Shepherds thought the babe in the manger would relieve all suffering and establish the reign of peace.” My question was not dark or bitter or hopeless. I just was struck by how this glorious long-awaited announcement feels to those today in Gaza, Ukraine, refugee camps, and countless other situations of blatant injustice or unimaginable sorrow.
Earlier, for several days or weeks, I had been having a strange feeling of “there’s something big I don’t know yet”…like a big important mystery that I didn’t “get” yet, that needed to crack open. But I had no idea what that would be. Was it somehow connected to my reaction to the Angel’s announcement of Christ’s birth?
A few days later, on my morning walk, here’s what began to fall into place. I was thinking of ALL the gifts and presents at Christmas. Other years I might have been critical of all the excess and consumerism, but this year I had a new insight: maybe the gift-giving is the way that many people are visited by the Messiah—in that they are acknowledged, SEEN, and feel in some way noticed, appreciated, and even loved. And the next thought that dawned--that might have been the “missing piece” from my Christmas eve puzzle about the Angel’s message of “Peace on Earth”: WE are the incarnated Christ! He comes to Earth each year, each century, through US. WE bring the peace that was promised, the compassion, the warmth, the support when darkness surrounds the people. WE bring hope with each person we visit, each card we send, each tear we wipe, each devastated person we stand strongly beside. Jesus in his earthly life was SHOWING us how to live among the “people who walk in darkness.” He was teaching US how to be LIGHT in the shadows. WE are the miracle in the manger!!
I’m still pondering what big new knowing I’m supposed to learn or realize. But perhaps it’s about the Incarnation of Jesus—His coming to Earth with the peace we long for, the Light we seek, and the tender love we desperately need. Perhaps it’s about the astounding truth of this Messiah mystery---that His birth happens again each day THROUGH each of us. We are the ones that enflesh the Christmas miracle---and have the power to be Light-bearers, bringing God’s peace to the land.