The Christmas story, says retired pastor Sondra Willobee, is irrational, for it’s the story of a divine love that pushes the boundaries of what we thought possible.
SONDRA WILLOBEE
Retired Pastor, Michigan Conference
This is the irrational season
when love blooms bright and wild.
Had Mary been filled with reason
there’d have been no room for the child.
– Madeleine L’Engle, “After Annunciation”
This poem by Madeleine L’Engle suggests that the season of Advent is a time for irrational behavior.
Certainly, we act crazy enough – spending more than we should, cramming our schedules too full, celebrating to the point of exhaustion.
Yet we do these crazy things because we’ve caught a glimpse of a love that “blooms bright and wild,” a divine love that pushes the boundaries of what we thought possible.
God comes to the world in human flesh. God becomes vulnerable in the life of a mother and child. God agrees to suffer with us.
We rational post-moderns who thought we were alone in the universe discover the pulse of love underneath everything.
It doesn’t make sense.
It doesn’t make any more sense than parents who pace through sleepless nights caring for children, or grown children who carve out time in impossible schedules to care for aging parents.
It doesn’t make any more sense than someone who puts ten dollars in the Salvation Army kettle even when they don’t have money for rent.
It makes no more sense than coming to worship when you could be shopping, stuffing yourself, or spending time on your computer.
Christmas is crazy.
Will you join me in some crazy love this season? Make room for the Christ child.
Last Updated on December 14, 2023