Merry Christmas

On this day, we celebrate

his birth --

He whom so many call

the Savior of the World

While making cookies

tonight, I listened

to all the same old songs,

sung by aging rock n' roll artists

again, and I thought about

the mystery they celebrate:

If you can get past

the flashing lights

and the department stores,

it is a baby they celebrate:

an innocent child,

and this holiday nearly

fetishizes

the purity and truth

and innocence

of a newborn child.

Our favorite songs

speak of glory and majesty arriving

with a tiny child

But the problem with babies,

and Jesus was no exception,

is

that they grow up.

Jesus continued to answer

questions

with the blatant, even brutal honesty

of a child.

Through the stories we tell of him,

the grown-up Jesus

  has become the embodiment

of being strong enough

to stand up for what 

is good and true.

And His Life is theembodiment of how

the world will squash that,

over & over again.

Those who say the truth,

do it at the risk

of their own lives.

( sonofthesouth )

Most humans live a life of lies

and anyone who challenges

them to be more honest

is more of a threat

than a savior.

In the world today,

you're best to kill the honest one

than you are

to follow him

or her.

 ( scienceblogs )

And so it was with Jesus:

the man who challenged us

to be true to ourselves

and to our neighbors.

The man who challenged us

to love

and forgive

all --

if we met Jesus on the street

could we tolerate

the honesty we'd confront

in the penetrating mirror

of his gaze?

Or would we kill him

again?

Over and over

again

would we kill him?

~~~

indeed, we do

( telegraph.co )

~~~

On this day, we celebrate

his birth --

He whom so many call

the Savior of the World

 

And yet

we keep killing Him

again and again

in the vicious circle

of human history.

(sciencenotes)

 Each year the celebration

of His birth comes around

and brings with it

the challenge

t truly live by His words

And we always abide by that challenge

for a week or two,

then return

materialistic lives,

poised to annihilate

or discredit

any Jesus

who dares to challenge us

( africawithin )

( smashinglists )

I've asked this before;

I'll ask it again --

because our time

is growing short:

why can't we truly 

listen and live

by the words of Jesus?

This Christmas,

why can't we

do it differently,

and truly put on his robe

and walk

His 

walk?