Despite the pressures that emanate from the myriad of necessary activities associated with the season, still when most of us reminisce on all the Christmases we’ve experienced during our lifetimes, invariably the traditions and memories revolving around our families are the most treasured and lasting. As has been said by countless observers over the ages, so much of what is best in us is bound up in our love of family. It is remains our primary measure of our strength and permanency such that all other pacts of love derive from it and are modeled upon it.
So, it should not be surprising to any of us that the real Christmas story centers around a family and the birth of their child, our Savior. As I pondered this point this week in preparing my second to last Christmas Inspiration, my thoughts were on the importance of family and Christmas. In researching this topic, I came across a powerful story that addresses the significance of family and Christmas in reverse. What if we had no family? Additionally, what if we were just being introduced to the origin of Christmas for the first time? What might that look like? This week’s poignant tale offers us an answer.
In 1994, two American divinity school instructors received an invitation from the Russian Department of Education to travel there and teach morals and ethics incorporating biblical principles at a number of different venues including schools, police and fire departments, businesses and prisons. Their message was so well received that in early December, just as they were about to return home, they were asked to make one last presentation at an orphanage populated by nearly a hundred boys and girls who had been abandoned, abused, and left in the care of this government-run facility.
Since the holiday season was upon them, the instructors decided to share with the children, many for the first time, the traditional story of Christmas. They told the kids about Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem where, finding no room at the inn, they were forced to shelter in a stable, where the baby Jesus was born and was placed by his parents in a manger. Throughout their telling of the story, the children and even the orphanage staff sat and listened with faces wrought with amazement. Some sat on the edge of their stools, struggling to grasp and understand every word. When they were finished, the instructors handed out to the children a variety of materials and asked each to build their own manger.
Soon the children were immersed in their respective tasks of assembling their mangers. Some collaborated with each other, while others worked by themselves. All the while, the instructors walked among them offering them assistance if needed. Noticing one of the children, Misha, sitting off by himself, one of the instructors stopped at his table. Misha looked to be about six years old. He had his arms crossed with a look on his face that indicated that he had completed his manger and that he was happy with it.
As he looked at the Misha’s manger, the instructor was surprised and startled to see not one, but two babies laying side-by-side in the crib. Quickly, the instructor called for the translator to ask the boy why there were two babies in the manger. Never taking his eyes off of his creation, Misha began to repeat the Christmas story very seriously. For such a young lad, who had only heard it once, he related the happenings with amazing accuracy – until he came to the part where Mary lay the baby Jesus in the manger. At this point, Misha began to ad-lib, saying:
“And when Maria laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked if I had a place to stay. I told him I had no mamma and I have no papa, so I don’t have any place to stay. Then Jesus told me I could stay with him. But I told him I couldn’t because I have no gift to give him like everybody else did. I really did want so much to stay with Jesus, so I began thinking about what I had that I could use for a gift. I thought maybe if I keep him warm, that would be a good gift. So I asked Jesus, “If I keep you warm, will that be a good enough gift?’ And Jesus smiled at me and told me, “If you keep me warm, that will be the best gift anybody ever gave me.’ So I got into the manger, and then Jesus looked at me and told me I could stay with him–for always.”
As little Misha finished his story, his eyes brimmed full of tears that splashed down his little cheeks. Putting his hands over his face, his head dropped to the table and his shoulder shook as he sobbed and sobbed. The little orphan had finally found someone who would never abandon or abuse him; someone who would stay with him – ALWAYS.
That day, the true meaning of our Savior’s birth was crystallized not by masters of scripture, but by a solitary and lonely boy of six. He reminds us all of the ageless message of Christmas: It is not WHAT you have in your life, but WHO you have in your life that really counts.
“…And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:20
Have an AWE-full Weekend!
William J. “Bill” Bacqué