 There are a lot of reasons to love Christmas. I could list them, but if you celebrate Christmas, you already know which ones for it for you. For me, the best part of Christmas is the Story. In fact, that is a gross understatement. the Story of Christmas is not just the best part of the holiday, it is the most incredible, mind-blowing, breath-taking, reality-jarring, life-changing plot of all time.
As a genre, well, you can pick your genre. The Christmas Story is for everyone. All the Angels, a supernatural child conceived by the "Holy Ghost," the Star that led the Wise Men: SciFi/Fantasy. The betrothal of Mary and Joseph, their near divorce, and then Joseph's commitment to Mary even as she bears a child that is not biologically his: Romance. The Roman census that causes Joseph and Mary to travel a great distance while she is pregnant, being turned away from formal lodging, having to stay in a stable with the animals, shepherds coming to see Jesus (surly social outcasts of the day), then Wise Men from far away lands giving them wildly expensive gifts: Drama. But that doesn't even scratch the surface. In my mind, the Story of Christmas is hands-down the greatest literary twist in history, and will be forever. It is what makes the religion of Christianity so radically different from any other religion in the history of the world. A planet inhabited by rebels, slowly destroying themselves, on track for utter destruction because of their own folly, and the One, most powerful, only perfect being in the universe whom they are offending with their every arrogant defiance does the unthinkable: He becomes one of them. Why!? To pull off the most improbable, unthinkable plot twist of all time, to save the rebel planet from itself, from the power of Darkness, and ultimately from Himself! And, all for love. He could have accomplished this rescue in a million other ways, but He didn't. He went under cover, and yet it was out in the open. He crushed the powers of Darkness, yet he never threw one punch. Just when it was looking like the worst possible outcome was assured . . . a baby was born. Come again? Exactly. For some of you, at least half of this post may have read like gibberish, but if you acquaint yourself with the story of God's plan of Salvation for Mankind through Jesus Christ, you might start to get me. But I'm telling you - M. Night has nothing on the Story of Christmas, and Christmas is only part of a larger Story. Like I said before, mind-blowing. So when I say Merry Christmas, you now know that there's a bit more going through my head than dancing sugar plums. "Unto us, a Child is born, unto us a Son is Given." (Isaiah 9:6)
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