This week I have struggled to find the words needed to conclude my writings on the Advent season as I had originally hoped for a triumphal climax that paints the perfect picture of Christ’s coming. I think this struggle has been due to the fact that, as least at the time, there wasn’t really anything triumphal about Christ’s entrance into this world. The King of Kings spent his first night on this earth in an unsanitary manger among dirty filthy animals. Doesn’t exactly shout “prepare ye the way of the Lord” now does it? I thought then that it might be appropriate on this last week of advent, with Christmas only three days away, to hear a message from those who were present at Jesus’ birth; the animals. The following is the best Christmas message I think I have ever heard, and it came from animals only yesterday.
About a foot of snow blanketed Winston-Salem, North Carolina and its surrounding areas this past weekend taking me closer than I have ever been to a white Christmas. Unlike what I am used to back home in Atlanta, salt and plow trucks were immediately on the scene clearing the roads to maintain a steady traffic flow. The snow didn’t keep us from our routines; it just slowed us down a little and gave us a chance to think. Although I am on break from my studies, I have still ventured to campus every morning to check my mailbox and pick up a copy of the New York Times. Yesterday, as I walked under the archway at Reynolda Hall and directed my movement towards Wait Chapel, I noticed that the campus wasn’t as empty as I had expected. Sure, classes are over, students are all home for the holidays, but there was a life happening at Wake Forest despite the break and the foot of snow.
A chipmunk scurried across the path in front of me, squirrels were out gathering nuts, and I saw the reddest of cardinals dancing as he seemed to decorate his nest. I was amazed because I became immediately aware of the fact that throughout the school year, as I am focused on my own stressful world filled with chaos, there is yet another world literally under my nose that operates in perfect harmony. Yesterday, as I watched these woodland creatures as they went about their respective winter tasks, I felt more in the Christmas spirit than I think I ever have. It was as if these animals knew more than I that Christmas was only a few days away, and they were preparing for the coming of our Lord. As I watched the animals simply living their lives as they were designed, I could have sworn I heard them proclaim “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
And that is the best Christmas message I think I have ever heard. Those animals, not too much unlike the animals that might have been present at Jesus’ birth, were preparing for Christmas, and glorifying their heavenly father simply by doing what they were created to do. Instantly, I thought to myself that this just might be the reason Jesus came after all: to free us and allow us to become ourselves as we were created so that we could truly worship and glorify God.
I am no Saint Francis, but this Christmas I am reminded of the words of Saint Irenaeus who declared, “the glory of God is a heart fully alive.” Christ has made us alive, and provided us the freedom to be ourselves; this is what we celebrate at Christmas.
In closing, and with Christmas only days away, I hope we will allow Christ to lead us to become the people we want to become. I hope we will chose to lives of passion and happiness. I hope we will all be as we were made, proclaiming now until we see Jesus face-to-face “Glory to God in the highest.” The animals do…
-Alex
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