Christmas Day
By Rev. Rudolf Ofori
I see the child Jesus. In him I see God who has lavished his generosity upon me; but when I look at myself, I am ashamed to see a ‘kindergarten’ heart in an adult body. In him, I see a God who humbled himself to my human level. But I have been like a virtually empty vessel which rattles noisily the small coins it actually has. I see Mary. She is beautiful, on account of the goodness of her heart. Beauty without goodness is worse than wine and will intoxicate the holder and the beholder. I see St Joseph. He is silent even when Mary is nearby. This silence is not absence of sound but of self. Each has surrendered themselves to God in the manger. Our world regards silence as a deficiency. Therefore, some radios, even on Christmas Eve, keep us awake until dawn playing ‘Silence Night’
I survey the crib. I see what we regard as essential for modern civilization. There is not even a door or a window (which we moderns keep shut even during the daytime). There is no watchdog that welcomes guests entering a modern house by barking at them, if not in fact biting them. Mary is not wearing slacks, which is not common these days. St Joseph is not smoking a cigarette, while some of us consume three packets a day, as if they contained all the vitamins necessary. And yet, though civilized things are absent from the crib, we have, here the first civilized person in the world; Jesus, Joseph. After all, what use are civilized things without civilized individuals? Twenty -five civilization before ours have been destroyed, not by enemies from outside, but by people inside (at least in part).
I hear Mary telling Joseph, ‘’I hear people’s gossip about us, having a baby without living together as husband and wife.’’ Joseph says ‘’Don’t worry, Mary never accomplishes anything, except wrinkles which gives another thing to worry about. Leave gossip alone; those who gossip are caught in their own mouth trap.’’ Mary says, ‘’God could have given us at least a cradle for the baby.’’ Joseph says, ‘’My dear, at least we have this crib. Some people are so poor that even cockroaches shun them. One advantage of being poor is that it does not cost much. And though those who sleep on the floor never fall out of bed, riches are not always blessings.’’ Mary says,’’Joseph don’t speak loudly; the baby is sleeping.’’ Joseph says, ‘’Yes, we mustn’t disturb him. He sleeps so soundly even in poor swaddling clothes.’’ Of course, man’s conscience and not his mattress has most to do with his sleep.
I touch the floor of the crib. It is very cool. We people have become so cold towards one another that God has become a human being to warm us up. Often, we are neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm and a lukewarm Christian makes a good bench warmer although a poor heart warmer. I kiss the feet of the child Jesus. All the legislation in the world cannot abolish kissing. The word ‘kiss’ was invented by poets to rhyme with bliss. So, when I kiss Jesus I kiss the eternal bliss, but I must take care that I do not kiss as Judas did.