Christmas Lament...

OK...so this is going to probably get pretty schmaltzy and sentimental...but this time of year makes me get that way...

So Christmas is basically about a baby. God looked down and saw that the world needed help in a major way...and decided to create a little life to make some major changes.

I find this so logical.

I don't care who you are...a baby changes the world. It changes everything about your life. Everything you thought you knew gets turned on it's head...and the life you once lead disappears and suddenly everything revolves around this tiny person...who depends on you for every single thing.

Can you think of a more innocent way to change the world than with a baby? It doesn't matter where you are...when you see a beautiful, tiny baby, you look. You look in awe at the miracle that is life. You peer into the face of a person that has no agenda, no hidden feelings, no opinions, no hate. All they want is love.

I can relate to Mary too. Unmarried and pregnant...all the looks and comments. The feeling that you're doing it all wrong...that your somehow not going to be a worthy mother because that baby doesn't have a 'traditional family'. A man in your life that you know loves you, yet the blessing of marriage is still not there. Sitting in a situation where everything around you is a unknown...I'm familiar. I've been there.

So God sends a baby. An innocent, pure, perfect little person. Of course He did. He loves the world that much. And everything becomes calm and bright. That little perfect face...tiny fingers and toes...that sweet, soft, baby-fine hair. The expectations somehow fade away by looking at that little person...you just KNOW things are going to be OK because you fell completely in love the second you laid eyes on that face. The love will make it OK.

So I decorate my Christmas tree with red heart ornaments. I do this as a symbol that Christmas is about Love. God's love for us. Mary's love for that innocent baby. My love for my son. It's all the same. Love is the reason for the season.