Unwrapped Gifts (44)
Lectionary, Year A, Christmas 1
Christopher B. Harbin
Luke 2:1-14
How much time and energy went into wrapping that gift in contrast to selecting and obtaining it? Back when our eldest was turning 4 years of age, grandparents sent money to buy him a scooter. We got it home, but were dumbfounded when it came to wrapping this oddly-shaped toy. We settled on the bag it came in, and just put a bow on the bag. For 20 years now, we have reused that bag numerous times, a bright orange bag about four feet tall that can hide most anything within it. Then there is the bow that came on a wedding gift that Karen and her mom have exchanged on gifts for Christmas and birthdays for decades. Those are exceptions. Normally though, once the gift is given, the wrapping gets tossed aside without a second thought. After all, isn’t it the gift that is supposed to take center stage?
It was an unremarkable birth in an obscure setting. The child was born to poor, young parents on a journey, likely in part to escape the gossip and side-eye they were getting at home. There was no inn set up with an appropriate birthing room, where the rest of the guests would not become unclean for their contact with birth fluids. Rather, this child was born in the most humble of settings, where the animals were cared for, possibly in a stranger’s home, but definitely not in comfort.
There was no fanfare at the palace. There were no throngs lining the streets to greet this new child and his parents. As far as Bethlehem and the rest of Judea was concerned, this was just one more peasant giving birth to one more mouth to feed, one more child who would be forced to pay taxes to Rome. No one was writing home about this birth. It was secluded away from society, hidden among the animals, and given little thought to whomever might have been aware of this pregnancy and birth.
No Christmas trees, no candy canes, no sleigh bells, no children playing in the snow, no carolers going a ...
Lectionary, Year A, Christmas 1
Christopher B. Harbin
Luke 2:1-14
How much time and energy went into wrapping that gift in contrast to selecting and obtaining it? Back when our eldest was turning 4 years of age, grandparents sent money to buy him a scooter. We got it home, but were dumbfounded when it came to wrapping this oddly-shaped toy. We settled on the bag it came in, and just put a bow on the bag. For 20 years now, we have reused that bag numerous times, a bright orange bag about four feet tall that can hide most anything within it. Then there is the bow that came on a wedding gift that Karen and her mom have exchanged on gifts for Christmas and birthdays for decades. Those are exceptions. Normally though, once the gift is given, the wrapping gets tossed aside without a second thought. After all, isn’t it the gift that is supposed to take center stage?
It was an unremarkable birth in an obscure setting. The child was born to poor, young parents on a journey, likely in part to escape the gossip and side-eye they were getting at home. There was no inn set up with an appropriate birthing room, where the rest of the guests would not become unclean for their contact with birth fluids. Rather, this child was born in the most humble of settings, where the animals were cared for, possibly in a stranger’s home, but definitely not in comfort.
There was no fanfare at the palace. There were no throngs lining the streets to greet this new child and his parents. As far as Bethlehem and the rest of Judea was concerned, this was just one more peasant giving birth to one more mouth to feed, one more child who would be forced to pay taxes to Rome. No one was writing home about this birth. It was secluded away from society, hidden among the animals, and given little thought to whomever might have been aware of this pregnancy and birth.
No Christmas trees, no candy canes, no sleigh bells, no children playing in the snow, no carolers going a ...
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