Does the world seem to be spinning out of control in these days leading up to the celebration of Christmas? Has it hit you yet that you’re only one person and need the hands, wisdom, time, imagination, and accomplishment of several as you prepare for the time of joy, peace, wonder, and promise? It’s easy to feel overwhelmed, isn’t it?
When the Christ child was born, Mary must have felt that way too. Like every mom-to-be, the “nesting stage” takes over, morning, noon, and especially night when it’s uncomfortable to sleep, when it seems every task takes so much extra energy, and when there’s that deep-seated feeling, “Am I up to the task ahead?” And then, the other sandal drops–“What do you mean we have to get to Bethlehem?” she asks Joseph.
We all know stress, of one kind or another. I have a former neighbor who puts things in perspective. He often says, when we ask him how things are going, “I’m too blessed to be stressed!” and he honestly means it! I try so hard to adopt this, but fail miserably.
I was wondering as I watched the dedication of Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral yesterday if Mary could have surmised its magnificence, its history of some 800 years, the costs of its refurbishment and construction after the devastating fire five years ago, and the gathering of world leaders and contributors to its restoration. Could she possibly have understood her place as the Mother of God? Could she have imagined the day the young Jesus was missing, that she didn’t need to be stressed because her young Son was exactly where He needed to be in His Father’s house back in Jerusalem? I can’t imagine her witnessing His crucifixion, her needing to go home with the beloved disciple, John.
I love Mark Lowrey’s song, “Mary, Did You Know?” I can’t wait until each Christmas playlist plays that remarkable piece, and I can stop to imagine her responsibility in raising such a Son. And as she began that trek to Bethlehem, jostling on a donkey’s back, feeling the stirring of her birth pangs, was she repeating the Magnificat she spoke when the Holy Spirit told her she would be the mother of the Son of God and meekly accepted her role.? 
That trip and those that followed was only the beginning.
As we shop ’til we drop, haul the decorations from their hiding places, dust off the special recipes, plan for company, attend concerts, parades, events, special advent and Christmas services, and long for a peaceful rest, we and the rest of celebrants of Jesus birth need to “chill” and actually recognize the reason for the season promised one day there would indeed be peace on earth and good will among men. . . that one day there will be a peaceable kingdom where no war, now perceived or real demands steal our joy, where we will, like Mary, be able to ponder all these things in our hearts and find that God’s purpose was to fill us with the knowledge that we can come to the Savior just as we are, that we have nothing we need to prove, that it doesn’t matter if we don’t get around to decorating high-calorie cookies or put fresh towels out for guests. That first Christmas, nothing was prepared but the “big event” itself. A stable, scratchy straw, possibly an unattended birth in the dark stable, and the sure knowledge that God was there and nothing else was necessary. . . oh, for the calmness of that holy night. The whole universe celebrated the event God planned, and we need to learn its magnificence in a still-broken world. Jesus came into a world much like ours, when you think about it, but in its celebration, we can turn our preparations into even more chaos than the latest news alert if we’re not careful.
So, let me, with you, gather our “to do” list, shed it when possible, shorten it to the essentials, and enjoy once more the recognition that the simplicity of the God event that night centered on the humble setting God chose when all of history, prophecy, creation, and fulfillment centered on stars, angels, shepherds, kings (though they arrived later) and it was all planned by God Himself to teach us that with God, all things are possible. Then we’ll understand, “in the fullness of time,” we’re right where we’re supposed to be in our own celebration of His sovereign wisdom which brings the the peace we seek.
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