I began to think about God as being like an intimate, not a distant, father. I began to think of both the very young, very human woman, Mary, and about the biblical images of God as mother hen and wisdom as a woman who was present at the creation.
On Christmas Day we can all be present at the Creation. We have many rituals in this day - worship, feast, stockings and gifts. Rituals link us to the past, to our families through ages of time, to our culture so eager to sell us all the trimmings and trappings of Christmas.
Yet, in order for this day to fulfill its promise, we must engage our imaginations, entering a different kind of space from the hustle and bustle of two, three or four generations crowding into one house.
We must create a quiet space, both personally and collectively, and we must be aware that we are the carriers of the Christ child today. We carry our Lord in our hearts, our heads and our hands.
When our children were babies, they played their first dramatic roles. Both were baby Jesus in the Christmas pageant. That meant Stuart and I got to don housecoats and flannel sheets and play Mary and Joseph. I'll never forget the sense of the holy I felt in 1983 when our daughter was baby Jesus and I was Mary. Even now, when I hear "Silent Night" sung softly, I re-imagine God in human form in my arms.
Prayer: And now may the spirit which was in Jesus Christ be in you, enabling you to know God's will and empowering all of us to do God's will. Amen.
