Posted on 12/26/2004 12:12:55 PM PST by B-Chan
Just The Kind of Craziness You’d Expect
The BitPig Rant 2004.12.26
Today is the Feast of St. Stephen, martyr. (St. Stephen was one of the 7 deacons chosen by the Apostles to work with the poor. Because of his unwavering belief in Jesus, he was stoned to death, becoming the first martyr of the Church.) It is also the Feast of the Holy Family — the day when we Christians celebrate the Earthly family of the Lord, and, by extension, the miracle of the Incarnation, the defining miracle of Christianity.
It’s pretty hard to believe if you think about it. The story goes like this: about two thousand years ago God, the Almighty Creator of the Universe — that’s time, space, stars, planets, dirt, amoebas, atoms, DNA, the works — comes down to Earth. And get this: He doen't appear in the form of a Galactus-like giant, a bearded thundergod, a mighty-thewed warrior, or a bearded king, as one might expect. As Sovereign Lord of All Existence, He could have looked like pretty much anything — a burning bush, a Starchild, a talking cloud, or even a cute, anime-style teenage girl. (That was His mother’s gig.) But he didn’t. What form did He take?
A baby. A normal, helpless, pants-pooping baby. And one born in a cave at that. With no one around to witness the big show but a few barnyard animals, some illiterate herdsmen, his aged foster father, and his mother. Some story, huh? Imagine - God, by an act of His own Will, lying there in a trough of hay, surrounded by stinky, unwashed animals (and shepherds), so weak and tiny that couldn’t hold His own head up.
Crazy, right? Maybe so. But, then again, it does make a certain kind of sense— artistically. The logic goes like this: A work of art is that which creates an esthetic response in the mind of the perceiver. The Universe, with all its moving beauty and fascinating ugliness, is certainly a work of art. We know from observation that every work of art comes into being by the act of an artist, a creative mind outside of and separate from itself. Therefore, an Artist outside of and separated from the Universe exists. God, in other words, is the Artist Supreme. And, as an artist by trade, and I can tell you from experience that we artists are just a little bit crazy, at least from the point of view of the everyday world. We make up elaborate, convoluted stories, we create things that don't really make a lot of sense from a practical standpoint, and the best of us (myself not included!) create works of true meaning and impact by using ordinary, even humble materials. The Mona Lisa is just dust and grease daubed on a starched rag; the Pieta is just a rock. And Jesus Christ was just a baby — flesh and bone, just like the rest of us. Yet all three are so much more — because of the artist (and Creator) that poured himself (and Himself) into their creation.
Seen in an artistic light, the story of the Incarnation isn’t crazy at all. Instead, it’s an artistic masterpiece — just the kind of craziness you’d expect from God. In other words, it makes all the sense in the world.
So let’s all take a few minutes today to ponder this most artistic and unlikely of events: the birth of God Himself in the form of a baby from the womb of a young peasant girl, protected and provided for by a kind and loving human man. Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, still lives, as do Our Lady His mother and our spiritual father Saint Joseph. They love you and want to help you, so ask them! (Even if you're not a Christian and can’t bring yourself to believe it all really happened, why not whisper a brief word to the Holy Family anyway — it can’t hurt!) By accepting as did St. Stephen this most unlikely of families — Jesus, Mary, and Joseph — as our own, we gain the power to face death itself — a refuge from the true craziness: the madness of the dark, cold world of rebellion and pride that lies outside, in the cold darkness beyond the stable door.
Merry Christmas!
Perhaps you should say "we Catholics" because not all Christians recognize such feast days.
I say “we Christians” because the majority of all the world’s Christians (Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans, and many Lutherans, among others) do recognize these feast days. If you are among the minority that does not, please accept my apologies for the unintentional offense, and my hope that you will choose to honor the Holy Family in some way.
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