Do You Hear What I Hear?
Dan Kunz
One of my mom’s favorite stories related to Christmas involved the imagination of a small boy – me. She loved to tell about the time that she and I were sitting at the kitchen table a couple days before Christmas, frosting sugar cookies for the annual celebration, including trees, Santas, stars, and camels. I have no idea how old I was, but must have been pretty young, because I don’t remember the event at all. As we sat and worked (with a fair amount of sampling thrown in) I suddenly said, “I wonder how far Mary and Joseph are?” In other words, how far were they in their long and difficult journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem? I don’t know how she replied, but I’m sure it satisfied that little boy’s imagination.
Isn’t it too bad we all grow up? Isn’t it too bad we tend to lose our sense of wonder and amazement; our imagination of the way things must have been so long ago? Children don’t have any trouble accepting the Christmas story. Children don’t have any trouble imagining what the stable looked like. Children don’t have any trouble hearing the cows and the sheep and donkeys. Children don’t have any trouble smelling the fresh hay which lined the manger. Children don’t have any trouble believing that God loves them so much that he sent his own son, in the form of a newborn baby, to be their Savior.
Does that mean that adults aren’t able to accept, imagine, see, hear, smell, or believe? No, it doesn’t. It may just take a little more work. First, you have to make time to do those things. Put the Christmas preparations aside for a little while. Secondly, you have to find the right place, a place free from distractions and interruptions. Thirdly, you have to allow yourself to “drift” back to a time when your imagination could take you anywhere, the ocean, the circus, your Grandma’s house. Once you take the leash off your imagination, simply allow it to follow the story, the arduous journey, the stable, the animals, and most of all, the baby. The Holy Spirit will help you with the accepting and believing part!
When Jesus’ disciples tried to chase the little children away from him because they thought he was too busy, Jesus showed his great love for children and the importance of their faith by saying, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14 It’s probably pretty common at this time of year to enjoy watching children and their appreciation of Christmas, whether they’re our own children, grandchildren, or the children of other relatives or friends. We even enjoy watching the children of complete strangers! Maybe we should try a little harder to be children – full of wonder, full of amazement, full of joy, and full of faith! Do you see the stable? Do you hear the cows? Do you smell the hay? Do you believe in the baby?