My greatest hope at Christmas time is to offer relevance and wonder. When you no longer read the Christmas story as literal history, it opens up amazing opportunity for both. The story becomes every person's story, and mirrors the wonder of human courage (and genius).There are lots of ways to approach the Christmas story to achieve relevance and wonder. Here are a sample.
You can read it as a story of survival against all odds....
You can read it as a pagan celebration of earth's cycles...
You can read it as the birth of the Christ in every person (the third Jesus)
Or you can read it as the celebration of every birth, and every birthday. This was a new idea for me, and grew out of the Roman idea that each person is born with a designated guardian spirit, known in Latin as Genius, or for a women Juno. It seemed to relate well to the story of Elizabeth and Mary meeting.
"The Christmas story is every person’s story. It is your story. It is the story of life meeting life, and genius being born. Your life is radiant in its genius. You are both mother and child, both the bearer of genius, and the genius itself. You stand at the edge of the great mystery, so near your genius, mirroring life back to itself. Your genius is a naked, winged child, ready to soar. Will you let it soar?"
Read, listen to, or watch the whole sermon here. Let me know what relevance and wonder the Christmas story has for you?
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