Read: Luke 2:1-7
Most of us grew up with the image of Mary and Joseph alone in a stable – locked out of any lodgings with only animals to keep them company. The original ‘us against the world’ scene. Problem is, it never happened. Watch the video to learn more, but the place where Jesus was born was packed with people, and it wasn’t an inn.
In Bethlehem, Joseph and Mary find themselves in a house about thirty feet wide and fifteen feet deep filled with distant relations. Rather than a quiet space to start their family, the house is packed with guests registering for the census. The noisy, humid, overpacked shoebox is filled with smells of bodies, perfume, food, stable animals, and straw - and the chaos of a woman in labor.
Hardly ‘us against the world’ – more like, “can I just have a minute of peace?”
Sound familiar?
After the cards are mailed and the presents bought and the food cooked and the gifts wrapped and and the clothes folded and the guest rooms prepared and the party started and the plates cleaned up – maybe then we can have a moment of peace. Maybe then we will be able to slow down and capture the Christmas spirit or have a few moments to be thankful to God.
Maybe you won’t, but that’s ok.
Yes, there will be time to reflect, but maybe it helps a little to know that overwhelmed feeling you have is probably what the first Christmas was actually like. It’s ok – don’t add more weight to the season thinking you are missing something by being so busy. You aren’t. Joseph and Mary felt just as overwhelmed. Maybe it is enough to know that as you serve others in the craziness of the season, you are in good company. Take a deep breath, stay in contact with God, do your best and let it be crazy for now.