Lessons from the Manger

Even though the 12 days of Christmas is not over yet, I took down my Christmas decorations tonight anyway.  The kids were sad.  And I felt guilty doing it.  But I'm tired, pregnant, nesting, and quite frankly, I need my husbands's help!  So I did while I had him here.


I have to confess that I had been feeling like Christmas was a bit of a let down this year.  


There was so much that I wanted to do.  Planned to do.  But just didn't get done.


We soared pretty well through the first few weeks of Advent.


We placed lots of Thankful Tags on our Tree.

We kept up with our daily Advent Activity countdown.

 

But by the third week of Advent, things started to get much more chaotic.  We only lit three candles on our wreath twice that week.  Which means we only sat down to eat together twice that week.

We got behind on our Advent activities.  Way behind.


And then I got sick.  Really sick.  The entire week before Christmas, I barely left my bed.


So as a result, the fourth week of Advent was an epic fail.


As were all of my carefully scheduled and planned "family fun" events and Advent activities...

We didn't make it to confession.
There was no driving through town to look at lights.  
No Botanica Illuminations.
I only made it through 2 1/2 weeks of my Advent devotional.
I forgot to get candles for Emily's birthday and as a result, she had to blow out a #3 candle.
We didn't have Family Movie Night to watch The Little Drummer Boy.
The last pages of the Advent coloring book remain uncolored.
I forgot to send Noah's Mission Box back to school.
Heck!  I even forgot to send a snack on his assigned snack day!
We didn't have a visit from Santa this year.
Or draw pictures of our blessings.
Our "gifts of love" weren't made until the day before Christmas.
There was no cookie baking or decorating cookies for Santa.
My packages weren't wrapped until the wee hours of the morning on Dec. 23rd.
We didn't have our Advent Table Discussion.
The white candle didn't get lit.


Instead, the last few weeks and days of Advent were spent running.  
Rushing.  
Stressing.  
Playing catch up.  


We didn't just "be"
Relax.  
Play.
Soak in the magic of the season.


I often put pressure on myself to create traditions and make special memories with my children.  It's a good intention, but in my quest for a Norman Rockwell holiday, I often get too caught up in it all.  It's a "can't see the forrest because of the trees" type of thing.  And this year, it seemed like I did worse than ever.  Or I took it harder than usual when things didn't go as planned.


But as I packed up our nativity tonight and glued the broken wise man back together, I was struck by something as I wrapped up the baby Jesus lying in the manger.  I was struck by the fact that I was completely missing the mark with my feelings of disappointment over all the "things" I didn't get done during Advent and Christmas.  I was missing the mark; according to my own words.

You see, on the 3rd Sunday of Advent, our church has a tradition of bringing our nativity baby Jesus to church for a blessing ceremony.  It's called "Bless the Baby Jesus" and it's designed to be an opportunity to disengage from the chaos and secularism of the holiday season and focus on the real "star" of Christmas.  We bring charitable gifts of "swaddling clothes" to be donated to local charities, we sing carols, we read children's stories, enjoy seasonal treats, and we discuss the history of the nativity.  

And this year, I was the one who spoke about the history of the manger scene.  I told those who gathered about how the tradition began... over 788 years ago in Greccio, Italy when Saint Francis chose to set up a living rendition of the night of Christ's birth when he celebrated midnight Mass that year.  


After giving the details of the history of the nativity, I closed by saying this...


"...it’s important that we stay mindful of what the tradition of displaying a Nativity teaches us; what it reminds us of.  We are over 2000 years removed from that first Christmas and the Christmas of today looks very different than that very first Christmas.  


It’s sometimes hard for us to remember that on that first Christmas, there were not any Christmas trees with twinkling lights and shiny ornaments.  There weren’t any yummy home baked goodies or warm mugs of hot chocolate.  There weren’t beautifully wrapped packages waiting to be opened or Christmas carols being sung.  

In fact, there wasn’t even the most necessary of things for a baby to be born… no bed, no heat, no visitors.  The Bible tells us that there was only a simple stable that housed animals and a manger from which those animals ate. 

It was the simplest and humblest of places for which a King to be born.  And that is what St. Francis wanted to remind the people about on that Christmas Eve 788 years ago when he set up the first Nativity.  He wanted to remind them that Jesus loved us so much that he humbled himself to be born into complete and total poverty.  He could have chosen any possible way to Incarnate himself.  He could have come as an adult in fancy robes with a crown atop his head announcing his Kingship.  But he didn’t.  He chose to come to us as a simple baby.  In a simple stable.  In a simple manger.  It was his love for us and his desire for us to love him in return that was displayed amidst those simple accommodations.

And that is what the image of the Nativity should remind us of.  It is easy to get overwhelmed with the hustle and bustle and the extravagance of today’s Christmas celebrations.  I’m guilty of it myself.  A couple of Sunday’s ago, I admit (embarrassing as it is) that I was yelling at my outdoor Christmas lights! 

There are lots of things that make this time of year special, but it is the simplest of things; not the outdoor Christmas lights or any of the other fun holiday activities, that make it the most special.

The simplicity of a newborn baby laying in a wooden manger is what Christmas is really about.  So when you feel overwhelmed with too much to do, take a look at your simple Nativity and remind yourself of what it means.   That the greatest gift you ever received was born into extremely simple and humble circumstances. 

And think about the lessons you can learn; just by looking at the simple manger:

Jesus was born to die so that we might live. Jesus who, at His birth, was laid in a wooden manger; was born to die.  And just as He was laid in wood at his birth, He would also be laid on a wooden cross at his death.  

The white swaddling clothes that He was wrapped in at His birth would eventually be replaced by a white shroud that was wrapped around Him as he was placed in the tomb.  He was born in a strangers stable, laid on wood, and wrapped in swaddling clothes.  And at His death, He was placed on a wooden cross, wrapped in a white garment, and buried in a strangers tomb.    

He was also born to be our food.  Did you know that the word Bethlehem means “House of Bread”.  And that the word manger literally means “place where animals eat”.   So He was born and laid in a place where animals eat… symbolizing that He himself is the Bread of Life that would eventually become food for all of us to eat in the Eucharist. 

And just as the glorious star that shone over the stable the night of the first Christmas tells us, He was born to be the Light of the World.  Without Him and His gift of self, there would be no hope, no peace, and no JOY!  He was born to be our hope... our Light of the World."

I should have taken my own advice more over these past few weeks!  

My disappointment with the season was in the extravagance of Christmas.  In the lights, baking, ornament painting... the "things" of Christmas.  

So as I packed away my simple manger tonight, I thought of these words of advice and truth that I offered to others several weeks ago.  And I felt my disappointment lift.  Because even though everything didn't go as I would have ideally liked it to go, it doesn't change the lessons from the manger.  

And my kids... they know those lessons.  Or at least they are learning them.

And that is more important than any drive around town to look at Christmas lights will ever be!