Bound Together

Every year our community celebrates Christmas with the construction of a Santa’s Village and a tree lighting. At the center of the municipal complex is a beautiful fountain. It is an abstract sculpture of a circle of people sharing an embrace. It is always striking, but never more so than at this season. It is not just the festive decorations that surround it which make the difference; it is the message of the sculpture itself that seems to become more clear during the season of Christmas.

The story of Jesus’ birth is a powerful story on so many levels. It is a mind boggling hope, isn’t it? Christians believe that in that birth, somehow the Creator became the creature, that God became a human. People have fought for centuries over all the details. The exact “how” of it is beyond our grasp, but that does not stop us from arguing about it. In fact, some argue so much that they miss the point of the story completely. The birth of Jesus is not a conundrum to be solved, but rather a gift to be received.

God with us. What an amazing thought! A God that understands. A God that loves creation that much. A God that is still with us in this world, in this life, with all its joy and grief. The Gospel of Matthew puts it like this, “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). God with us. All of us. Across all our differences. Across all the boundaries we work so hard to construct to separate us. Immanuel, God with us. All of us.

That is why I like the fountain in the midst of all the Christmas decorations. That image of the circle of people, bound together by something bigger than just themselves and their self interest. The circle, representing all people, bound together in their common humanity. A humanity somehow shared by their Creator in the person of Jesus. That seems to me to capture the heart of this season. That seems to me to capture the heart. And the heart is what it is all about.

Peace.