Coco Calling No. 84 - The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!
It’s dark and cold outside. Over the last month, it’s barely stopped raining. Everyone seems to have a cold. Humans have been dashing around, buying food and presents, and trying to get on top of their work before the Christmas Break. Stress, stress, stress. Pressure. Pressure. Pressure. How can Christmas be “the most wonderful time of the year”?
And yet the birth of Jesus in a lowly stable, along with His death on the cross, is probably the most momentous thing that we will ever know. But the problem is that so many of us don’t know it. We all need to be told or reminded. And that’s what Daniel Berrigan was trying to do when he wrote the following piece:
“It’s not true that creation and humanity are doomed to destruction and loss-
This is true: for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
It is not true that we must accept inhumanity and discrimination, hunger and poverty, death and destruction-
This is true: I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
It is not true that violence and hatred should have the last word, and that war and destruction rule forever-
This is true: Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder. His name shall be called wonderful counsellor, mighty God, the Everlasting, the Prince of Peace.”
(Daniel Berrigan: “Testimony: The Word Made Flesh”: Orbis Books: 2004)
So, my feathered and human friends alike, we all have every reason to rejoice this Christmas Day. The birth of Jesus in a ramshackle stable means that we can all be saved from the finality of death. And the love, the compassion and the goodness that He brought to the world can become our armour as we confront the challenges of the lives we lead.
So if there is ever a day when we should be happy, it’s Christmas Day!
Joy to the world! Joy to our friends and loved ones! Joy to those who suffer! Because there is now a bright, shining light at the end of the tunnel for every single one of us, if we only open our eyes to see it!
Happy Christmas! Happy Christmas all of you!
Coco will now be taking a break for a couple of weeks to celebrate Christmas and the New Year.
