In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. … And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. – John 1:1-5, 14
It felt like my world was turning upside down. In the words of children’s author Judith Viorst, “It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.” And yet, that night, I found myself standing with my young daughter in front of a majestic and breath-taking live nativity. We stepped inside the stable and onto the hay, standing close enough to touch the beatific face of baby Jesus, chatting with a smiling mother Mary and beaming father Joseph, listening to an angel in white play carols on a flute. Tears rolled down my face as the tension of my day began to subside. I watched the wonder in my daughter’s eyes and felt a tiny bit of the reality of God becoming one of us and living amongst us. As we walked away, I overheard a tired and exasperated Mary tell Joseph, “Oh, no, here comes my Mom.” I giggled as the weightiness of my ‘a-ha’ moment was gone, but for me the meaning of the moment increased. Suddenly, this nativity scene became even more ‘real’ as I truly understood Mary and Joseph – the perfect characters we know and love from the well-worn nativity story – to be human, to be real people. They were people with families and stress, heart-broken and tired, whose world sometimes felt like it was turning upside down. And Jesus became one of these real people, one of us and lived among us.
As we journey through stressful days this Advent, may we remember Jesus as Emmanuel, God with us.
Amanda von Herrmann
Speak Your Mind