Photo: by Janet Small – Nativity Arrangement by Our Grandchildren

Yet it was you who took me from the womb; you kept me safe on my mother’s breast. On you I was cast from my birth, and since my mother bore me you have been my God. (Psalm 22.9-10)

I’ve had a lot of wonderful Christmases. There are the childhood memories of family celebrations. Janet and I were married 10 days before Christmas. We’ve had 40 years of celebrating with our children and grandchildren. We’ve even spent a Christmas Day in Bethlehem standing within feet of where Jesus was born. (Coincidentally, my dad also spent a Christmas Day in Bethlehem during World War II.) 

It was 75 and sunny on the West Bank as we drove by the Star & Bucks coffee shop in downtown Bethlehem. It was hardly the “Bleak Midwinter” we hear about in the Christmas Song or the “Bleak Midwinter” in pre-climate change “Minn-a-soda” where I was raised. 

In the bleak midwinter 
Frosty wind made moan;
Earth stood hard as iron, 
Water like a stone;¹

In my family of origin, Christmas Eve was the reference point for Christmas celebrations. There was an abundance of presents, children and grandchildren, and nieces and nephews. Christmas Eve also came with an abundance of conflict, fighting, competition, hurt feelings, temper tantrums, and scheming. This was mostly from the adults.

In this context is my favorite childhood Christmas memory. It was the afternoon of Christmas Eve. I went ice-skating for several hours. My friends were already celebrating or traveling, so I went alone — or should I say in solitude. I pretty much had the rink and chalet to myself. It was snowing.

Snow had fallen, snow on snow, 
Snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter
Long ago.

A few blocks away was a public nativity scene. Off to the side was a message: “Wise Men Still Seek Him“. While there were a few scattered attempts to get us to church as kids, most of my theology came from TV and Christmas songs. Yet this nativity scene fascinated me. Why? Because I believed this story. 

Without being formally taught, I already had a faith in Jesus Christ. But how did this happen? How did I get to this faith with sparse and often erroneous teaching about Jesus combined with a strong dose of myth, tradition, sentimentalism, and fairy tales? The Gospel of John explains why. Jesus reveals himself: 

• “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.”
• “What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.”
• “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”

The wise may still seek him according to the nativity scene, but there is something even more profound: He came to seek me! He found a way to reach me apart from the church, theological training, or good works. This is the part many miss about Christianity. It’s the seeking and acceptance by Jesus Christ of who we are — just as we are. Once we embrace our status that “We are loved”, it opens up new possibilities and we find the magic in Christmas.

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¹_{In the Bleak Midwinter. Poem by Christina Rossetti and later turned into a Christmas Carol by Gustav Holst. Information and poem formatting provided by Wikipedia}