“When the angels had left them . . . . . “
Sometimes in our romanticizing of Christmas we assume that we should be on a spiritual high throughout the month. But we grow more and more tired and weary as the sacred day approaches. We assume that every moment should smell like cinnamon and the harp should play carols in the backdrop of every gathering. But in the Bible, the angels depart. They fly away. And the shepherds go in haste. And they trudge over to see a baby in straw and chat with Mary and Joseph.
When we were first married the entire family came for Christmas and every bedroom was filled to the brim and every time someone flushed the second floor guest bath, a flood of water came through the light socket in the kitchen where I was preparing our special foods! I suspect that Mary, Joseph and the shepherds also had some mishaps but just didn’t make it into the Bible. Because what everyone remembered was that in the midst of the chaos and haste, the tiredness and the worry, that love was born.
Prayer:
Holy God that you for descending into our ordinary lives. Open our eyes to the ways we can be patient and kind to each other. Use our flesh to reveal the wonder of your love. Amen.
