Besides the reindeer, which animals do you associate the most with the Christmas season?
I definitely think of sheep and camels because of the Nativities that appear all over our house during the Christmas season.
An ordinary night with ordinary sheep and ordinary shepherds. And were it not for a God who loves to hook an “extra” on the front of the ordinary, the night would have gone unnoticed. The sheep would have been forgotten, and the shepherds would have slept the night away.
But God dances amidst the common. And that night he did a waltz.
The black sky exploded with brightness. Trees that had been shadows jumped into clarity. Sheep that had been silent became a chorus of curiosity. One minute the shepherd was dead asleep, the next he was rubbing his eyes and staring into the face of an alien.
The night was ordinary no more.
The angel came in the night because that is when lights are best seen and that is when they are most needed. God comes into the common for the same reason. His most powerful tools are the simplest.
- The Applause of Heaven by Max Lucado
I like the idea that his most powerful tools are the simplest. The simple things of God are the nearest to our comprehension, so it is reassuring that they are just as affective. Even his most simple things make our world extraordinary.
Sometimes I am given my most wondrous glimpses of Jesus in the small or unexpected things, from a friend pouring a cup of tea to looking up at the evening sky and seeing the tiny sliver of a moon and staying to watch the stars come out. I am filled with joy at the wonder of God’s leaving all that glory and coming to the poor fallen thing that has become of his glorious little planet, peopled by creatures who have the ability to choose right and wrong, and who so often choose wrong. Why does this give me hope rather than despair?
I suppose it gives me hope because there is nothing that happens, nothing, that is not part of God’s concern, part of that love which expressed itself completely in the Incarnation.”
- Bright Evening Star by Madeline L’Engle
Beautiful Hark the Herald Angels Sing! Is that St. Paul's?
ReplyDeleteI think of a donkey because all of our art certainly conditions us to see Mary riding on a donkey...and I think of sheep...lambs in the stable.
YES! I am eternally grateful that His love permeates and soaks the very places where He is needed most. Praise be to Him! Max Lucado has such a splendid way with words!
What a rousing version of Hark the Herald Angels Sing!
ReplyDeleteThese two quotes about the simple and ordinary in our lives, and how God touches us in those are close to my heart. I think that's why we look in awe at little babies in the first place - they are such clear examples of the miracle of life, and of God being in the ordinary. It's very humbling that Jesus touches our ordinary nature and makes our lives extraordinary.
The animal I most associate with Christmas is the little donkey that must have provided passage for Mary.
I was always fascinated and a little stumped by the doves on the felt Advent Calendar. They didn't have feet, but they weren't flying either. About the only thing they could do was curl up in the corner.
ReplyDeleteFor animals that get perhaps less attention at Christmas than they deserve, we've added a few verses to the Friendly Beasts this year (the Raccoon is for the ornament we got from Nana Pat):
I, said the raccoon with mask of black,
I gave Him an apple--then took it back.
I went through His trash to find a snack.
I, said the coon with mask of black.
I, said the Eskie all frisky and white,
I barked at the Wise Men but did not bite.
I ran in circles with all of my might.
I, said the Eskie all frisky and white.
I, said the beagle with floppy ears,
I smelled at the manger, here and here,
I nuzzled His face to calm His fears.
I, said the beagle with floppy ears.
I, said the corgi, all stout and short,
I guarded the stable like a fort.
I kept them out, the dangerous sort.
I, said the corgi, all stout and short.
I love these new verses for an old song. Very creative M,M,&P!
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