MY CHRISTMAS THEORY

Lk.2:11,12 – For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.

Like everyone else, I have lots of theories. You know the routine, we all have opinions on everything. The fact is, some of our theories are better than others. I’m going to call this one my Christmas theory.

Remember those special Christmases as a child, wondering what Santa was going to leave under the tree? I remember some Christmas Eves where I hardly slept a wink. One time I snuck out to the living room to check out the tree at about 10 o’clock. That’s 10 o’clock Christmas Eve. Apparently my parents were at a Christmas party next door and I scoped everything out before they got back. That made things worse. I was totally into astronomy in those days and I saw the telescope my parents got for me. Sleeping would be out of the question that night.

We all have our Christmas stories but the thing I remember most was the almost magical feeling of Christmas. Everyone called it the Christmas spirit; today I actually think that that is the Holy Spirit. Children seem to have a special grace for that spiritual sense of Christmas until they get a little older. Teen age years tend to steal that Christmas specialness away.

At least that’s how it was for me. I lost the sense of the Christmas spirit in my teen age years. Thankfully I got it back after my conversion to Christ when I was twenty one years old. That Christmas, the glory of the Lord, the Spirit of Christmas, swallowed me up. I was swallowed in the world of the Old Testament Hebrew prophets prophesying about the birth of our Lord. The gifts were no longer what Christmas was about. I had discovered God’s great Christmas gift to the world, God’s only begotten Son of God. If you have lost the mystique of Christmas come back to Bethlehem where it all started. Maybe there you will find the portal to God’s world of mystery. Here is a poem I wrote this year. hope it helps you on your journey.

PORTAL

Angels dancing

In radiant beams of light

Mankind is sleeping

On the first Silent Night

Shepherds awakened

By a God celebration

Creation is groaning

For the Desire of all Nations

Jacob’s ladder

Has suddenly appeared

A babe in a manger

Our God has come near

Sons awakened

By God’s blinding rays

Darkness defeated

By the Ancient of Days

Creation rejoicing

At God’s portal on earth

Death has been conquered

By the Son’s humble birth