by Rev. Kenneth Tanner
Some are worked up about a “war on Christmas.”
Not me. I am not compelled to “reclaim” or “rescue” Christmas from the many who ignore and the few who despise its magnificent origins.
How can I be anxious or offended? I am in too much awe of its startling truth: that a baby is God, gasping for air, clasping for mother’s milk, flailing his small limbs in a feed trough; taking on my frailty, contingency, vulnerability, that I might share his everlasting nature.
The baby is now Lord of all things visible and invisible, forever one of us, still bearing his now glorified, nail-scarred flesh at the Father’s side, making all things new for all, hallowing every star in the far-flung cosmos — matter’s maker now made matter, redeeming every atom and every stoney heart. This reality overpowers me with its brilliant mystery.
I want to share this authentic Christmas. I want everyone to know this God become clay so that all might be like God.
Whether others believe the story, whether they practice holy Christmas — with deep joy that prostrates before his Incarnation — does not dampen my praise or slacken my faith. I do not skip a beat. It does not alarm me.
The season society calls “Christmas” falls short of this great mystery, but I wonder if the frustration and anger of some believers springs from an unexamined need for the culture to boost our untested faith in the God who became man. Can we trust the real deal without their cooperation or support? Why does so little set us at odds with our neighbors?
Read the Whole Article at Huff Post
