My house is currently in a state of disarray as the preparations begin.
Are you also preparing?
Advent comes from the Greek word Parousia, a celebration of the Nativity of Christ and joyful anticipation of Christ’s return. The 12th century abbot Bernard of Clairveaux introduced the idea that there is a third coming of Christ, which occurs every day in the heart of the believer.
I remember years when, in a state of despair and depression, I wanted to go to sleep mid- November and wake up mid-January. Skip the holidays entirely. Avoid being reminded of the joy I thought everyone else was feeling.
Have you been there? Have you had a year when life was so heavy, so heartbreaking, so lonely that “the most wonderful time of the year” made you want to scream?
Unless you just learned to read, this is not your first time reading about how we miss the meaning of Christmas.
I do not believe we miss simply because we shop and wrap and bake and run run run. It isn’t the busyness. No, I believe the reason Christmas is hard for many folks is because the impact and sublime nature of Christmas are overlooked.
My Advent devotional this year is Low by John Pavlovitz. It is my intent to share this month’s journey with all of you, and with as many friends as you will invite, by combining Mr. Pavlovitz’s perspective with my own. He reminds us that we often forget that Jesus was born to meet us in the worst places of our lives, not just in the twinkling decorations.
We have sterilized Christmas. We have made it about parties and lights and presents and dressing up for Christmas Eve .
Should the birth of the Savior be celebrated? Absolutely.
But the story we tell and retell is, at best, incomplete.
The replay we give is that Joseph and Mary traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census. The hotels were full, so she had the baby – quick and easy - in a nice wooden manger with soft straw. They had clean blankets for him. Then Wise Men came and gave him expensive gifts.
This is closer to the truth:
Mary rode a donkey 90 miles in her final week of pregnancy. She rode a DONKEY. For six days. Joseph walked beside her, most likely accompanied by others also traveling to their ancestors’ city. The path was up and down hills, through deserts and forested areas by the Jordan river. There were wild animals and packs of thieves. Mary and Joseph did this under threat of death from the Roman government, which was seeking to count the number of Palestinians Jews living in the Middle East at that time.
We know that Mary gives birth soon after arriving in Bethlehem. We do not know how long she had been in labor or how long she laid in the barn before Jesus was born.
We do know the pregnancy that started with a betrothed teenager conceiving God’s son ended in a dirty barn with the boy sleeping in the same trough from which pigs and cows ate.
THAT is closer to the reality of Christmas.
We make it all fancy, and, in doing so, bury the whole point. The Nativity is for the broken-hearted, for the infirmed, for the lonely, for the needy.
Jesus was born into messy circumstances and for messy circumstances. If you are slogging or weeping or worrying through life, the Nativity is for you.
If you want to wake up and find out it is mid-January because the heaviness is too much, the Nativity is for you.
If you are wealthy and lonely, or if you are on the lowest rung of society, the Nativity is for you.
If you don’t know if you even believe in God, the Nativity is for you.
Maybe you do not feel like this event we call Christmas is for you. But the Nativity is for you.
I have always loved Christmas - decorations and giving presents and songs and cookies and getting presents and gatherings. I still do. There is no shame in that.
In the past few years, I have also grown to truly love the Nativity and all it means.
Please join me over the next four weeks to look at the Nativity.
Do that especially if you don’t feel like it.
The Nativity was messy and challenging. Life can be too. But there is HOPE.
We will talk again soon,
BP
Beth Painter is, among many other things, a writer, photographer, and motivational speaker. You can follow her on Facebook on the “Think Big focus small” page. Beth is available to speak to your group about how to make your dreams and desires come to life!
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