I often end up reflecting on your arrival into this world. It was an intense, painful and scary time, but we all came through it. We had lots of people helping us through this time - sometimes too many - and as a result, though you and I were battered and bruised, we slowly healed.
But today I want to think about another birth, one that took place almost 2000 years ago. One whose arrival was marked with joy in the heavens, as angels sang to shepherds in the field and a star shone in the sky for astronomers in a far away land.
But here on earth, things were very different. When you were born, Timothy, you were surrounded by at least 3 obstetricians, a pediatrics team, a few nurses, an anesthesiologist, a doctor, AND your papa. I was drugged up so I couldn't feel much pain. Everyone wore gloves, masks, gowns and hairnets. The room we were in was ridiculously clean and well-lit.
As for that birth 2000 years ago, Here's what Scripture tells us about it:
While [Mary and Joseph] were [in Bethlehem], the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. (Luke 2:6-7).
That's it. Nothing more is said. But there's so much that isn't said, and it is so telling!
Mary and Joseph placed their little newborn, not in a clean bassinet with fresh sheets, but in a manger. I don't know if you see the similarity between the noun "manger" and the French verb, well, "manger" (same word, different pronunciation. Moving on). In French, "manger" means "to eat". In English, a manger was a container of sorts that held food for animals. We would probably call it a trough today. This reference to a manger, combined with the fact that there was no guest room available for them, tells us that Mary and Joseph were housed with the animals.
There were no drugs, no medical specialists, and no lights. No comfy bed. No clean linens. There were probably flies, fleas and who knows what other kinds of insects? No doubt there was animal poop - and straw - everywhere.
And there were no family members.
I'll say this: giving birth is messy. Very messy. It's filled with all kinds of bodily fluids. And it is painful. And sometimes, there are complications.
We know there were midwives in Bible times; the story of Moses' birth says as much (See Exodus 1:15). So there were some specially trained people who could help women give birth.
But not one midwife was present when Mary went into labour. And her husband, Joseph, was a carpenter by trade, which, in case you were wondering, does nothing to prepare him to bring new life into this world.
And after the birth? No one helped Mary's child to latch. No one was there to make sure she was healing properly. No one helped her go to the washroom and clean up, and tell her that what she was feeling and experiencing was normal. No one was there to take the child and bathe him. No one was there to hold the child to give the new parents a break from the crying baby.
And yet, and yet. The baby that was born that night was Jesus Christ, the son of God. He entered the world in the most humble way possible: as a baby, to the poorest of the poor, under the worst of circumstances.
He could have chosen to be born in Herod's palace, or as Caesar's child. Or even as the son of a Jewish priest. Surely Jesus could have affected the world in greater ways by being the son of a much more powerful person, couldn't He?
He could have, yes. After all, He is God. But He didn’t.
See that’s not at all how God operates. If you read the Bible closely, you will see that He always starts small, humbly, and works His way from there.
The first man was made from the dust on the ground.
Abraham and his wife were beyond the years where they could conceive a child, yet it was through them that God created His chosen people.
Moses was not a great public speaker, yet, with God’s help, he triumphantly led the enslaved Israelites out of Egypt.
Joshua was told he and the Israelites were to around the city of Jericho for 7 days, after which the walls came crashing down.
God chose Gideon, the least of his tribe, to lead the fight against the Midianites with an army that was a fraction of the size of that of their enemy. And the weapons of choice? Their voices, torches and clay pots.
Jesus was born to a virgin teenager who was almost abandoned by her betrothed and likely rejected by both her family and his. This is probably why Jesus ended up in a manger. Jesus lived a short yet surprisingly impactful life, and then died a tortuous death in the most vile way imaginable.
But oh, the ripple effects of that life and death extended far, far beyond the world Jesus lived in!
In church this morning, we were reminded that God didn't choose to make things good in the world and then come down. Rather, He came down and made things good. And not in the ways anyone expected, either.
Timothy, I enjoy your wide-eyed innocence and chill personality. I'm very proud and awed at how you face many new things with a curiosity and/or a huge smile. Right now, the only things that you really don't like are the vacuum cleaner, bathroom hand dryers and the aspirator (which we affectionately call the snot sucker). I hope and pray that this innocence and laid-back-ness is something you can hold on to for a very, very long time. However, I know that you will soon discover that there are so many terrible, horrible, no good, very bad things in this world, and that new awareness could very well throw you for a bit of a loop.
But hopefully your papa and I can teach you to see the good among the bad. May we three learn together to look on the bright side of life, to see the good things that God is giving or doing for us in the midst of all the not-so-good things in this world.
After all, that's what Mary, the mother of Jesus, did. And I'm convinced that that's what got her through her terrible, horrible, no good, very bad situation.
But that, my love, is a letter for another day; this one is long enough.
Till next time,
Mama.
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