Christmas in this faraway place
brings new experiences for our family. What a surprise to find that there’s no
Christmas service or celebration ON CHRISTMAS DAY, Dec 25! We were baffled, to
say the least. One of new experience for us is “The Hanging of the Greens”
event in our church. It’s a celebratory event that functions as the “official”
church decorating for Christmas. Of course the actual church decorating is done
at another time (before or after), but most of the decorating at the sanctuary
itself happens during the event. And what a better excuse and opportunity to
show-off our talents while the decorating process takes place? Children and
youth would do most of the job, hanging ornaments, lighting candles, adorning
pews. In and out they came at several stages of event with their antics and
gleeful struts. Several little ones would squeals, “Da-da!” or “Hi, Mommy!” and
waved or hugged their parents. Adorable!
During one of such performance, one
of our youth sung a beautiful song from a Christmas cantata by Robert Sterling.
This song is supposedly sung by Mary after Jesus is born. You can almost
imagine the scene from Luke
2:16-21 appears before your eyes:
And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the
baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that
had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what
the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them
in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all
they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. And at the end of eight
days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel
before he was conceived in the womb.
As a mother, I was struck by the
lyrics of this song. As Christians, we probably have never thought much about
Mary. How young she was when the angel told her she was going to conceive God’s
Son (she was probably my daughter’s age or even younger!). How scared and
unsure she must have felt in the glare of her neighborhood. How fragile and
full of doubt her relationship with Joseph must have been (he was thinking of
abandoning her secretly!). Yet she chose to obediently go with him to Bethlehem.
How the panic she felt when contractions came, yet they have nowhere to stay.
And finally, … a manger? Really? … What conflicting feelings she must had
looking at her helpless baby after the birth. A baby, yet the Messiah, the Son
of God!
Mary received the responsibility
through the words of an angel, and the special task was confirmed by her visit
to her cousin, Elizabeth. But Mary must have been dumbfounded when those
shepherds that she had never met in her entire life, came and worship the baby.
And they told her that the news was brought by an angel, too! It must have been
a great source of assurance, a great comfort to her. A further confirmation to
Joseph too, that she wasn’t lying after all.
And I don’t know whether Mary
realize at that moment that Jesus, her son, THAT baby, will have to endure so
much in His adult years. He looked so helpless, just like any other baby. He
cried. He was hungry. He needed to be swaddled and changed time and again. She
wasn’t sure what He will become or what He will do (as we mothers towards our
children, too!) Yet she couldn’t deny the fact that the baby, her own son, is
special. However, she was one happy and love-struck mother that night, falling
in love with her baby. The softness of His skin, the warmth of His body, His
sweet cry. She just wanted to savor that!
And this song, I think, represent
well what Mary must have felt that night.
My Little One
Heavenly Father, see what You made
He’s just like You told me, He’s just
like You said
I’m holding Love in my arms tonight
Just let Him be my little one tonight
Sent down from heaven, God become man
He’s only a baby, and yet He’s Your
plan
I’m holding Love in my arms tonight
Just let Him be my little one tonight
I know tomorrow will come
I know His work must be done
But please let Him be my little one –
tonight
Heavenly Father, hear Your Son cry
The promised Messiah needs His mother
tonight
I’m holding Love in my arms tonight
Just let Him be my little one tonight
I know tomorrow will come
I know His work must be done
But please let Him be my little one –
tonight
This is a powerful reminder that Jesus’ birth is
real. A real mother with feelings. A real baby, powerless baby at that. And we
are so blessed that He always choose ways that we all can understand, forms
that we can relate with. Fellow human beings, just like us. Our human languages
and experiences.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
