“Unto us a child was born”

As the fire crackles and hymns hang in the air with the aromatic smell of balsamic pinewood we ask ourselves, is this the magic of Christmas? We turn to evident signs of our abundance under our tree and the gratitude we feel tends to gravitate to the material blessings. The truth is while all these blessings are good and a part of God’s creation, the real beauty lies in the familiar faces and merry laughter. For one night we get a glimpse of Eden past and Eden future. We are imperfect beings created for a perfect world and our inner being longs for the moment when we will be reunited as one with Christ. The beauty of this season is families gathered, old friends reunited, memories of loved ones rekindled. It is vivid imagery of Romans 12:5 “so we, though many, are one body in Christ…” Over 2000 years ago in a dingy manger, amidst the smell of animal manure, a child was born of a virgin. Life as we know it changed forever. Now on this day, we can rejoice because we don’t have to buy our way into eternity with gifts. We don’t have to clean really hard and put up a fake sense of perfection. Alongside all our broken friends and families we rest and rejoice in the truth that our Saviour did it all. For one night we cling and hold to the magic of being in community with one another knowing we can freely give to each other because our gift was freely given to us. For one night we cling and hold to the magic of knowing that one day we will be in the new Eden with those we can no longer celebrate with today. For one night we cling and hold to the magic that “Behold, the virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (God with us)” Matthew 1:23