Another year. Another Christmas. Another retelling of that old story. You know, the one with the virgin and the angels and the shepherds and a baby laid in a manger. Depending upon how old one is, this could be just another hearing of that story, another one of the dozens. And, depending upon your enthusiasm, this could be just another year hearing that lovely "fairy tale" of faith, just another "myth" of origins about some influential Jew that lived thousands of years ago.
But this year, this Christmas could be a year that we took the story a little more seriously. Maybe this year we could really think about this story, really wrestle with some of the questions it poses, the biggest question, the elephant in the room: why?
Why? Why does Christianity insist upon a virgin birth? Why shepherds? Why a full inn with no rooms? Why an engaged virgin? Why Israel? Why at that time in history? Why angels singing to sheep and shepherds in a field? Why not a birth to kings or rulers? Why not in Rome? Why not wait until technology could air this event across the internet? Why no pictures? Why all this to start the life of an obscure rabbi in Judah?
This year, let us make a real effort to contemplate, to wrestle with this story. Perhaps if we would, we might get a glimpse of its profundity and have it revealed to us in all its awesome wonder and beauty. Perhaps we could see past the poetry, past the history, past the Scripture to see God Himself taking the humble form of a man to save all men. This year, this Christmas, let us not allow this story to be just another telling of that same old song.
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