The nativity of the New Testament is just plain messy. For example, if the emphasis is upon virgin birth, why not just leave Joseph out of the picture altogether? This may explain why only Matthew and Luke ventured into this murky area (with quite different narratives) while Mark and John were willing to forego it. Although more rhetorical than practical, I always respected the United Methodist doctrine which states that faith cannot be defined as making the unbelievable believable. Fully in keeping with a centuries-old Judeo-Christian tradition, the story of Jesus’ birth was never written as historical fact, but rather as metaphor. The wish to restore the reason to the season must begin here. To genetically test for paternity, etc, completely misses the point. The Advent of Christ instead profoundly focuses upon a man, a woman, and a child. God’s only begotten son—a classically ambiguous example of what organized religion has done with and to the story—is revealed to humankind in a most fundamental way, and in today’s world we would do well to focus our attention on the love of family instead of magic. Christmas is the celebration of the gift of love to our world by the most natural and ordinary means imaginable: the family. Are you hoping to experience the miracle of Christmas? Do you really want to experience peace on Earth through goodwill toward all humankind? Do you really want to see a better world for yourself and your children? It’s no harder or easier than looking to the source of your being for the answer. Phillips Brooks, to my way of thinking, had a better grasp of the true meaning of Christmas than anyone I know accompanied by the ability to put it in unforgettable words:
How silently, how silently, the wondrous Gift is giv’n;
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His Heav’n.
No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.
O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM
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