Like a child
Don’t judge by appearance, but judge fairly. — John 7:24 Esv
We were the only family with children in the whole restaurant. I sat Erik in a high chair and noticed that everyone was quietly eating and talking. Suddenly Erik shouted joyfully: ‘Hello!’ And he began pounding live with his chubby children’s hands on the tray of a high chair. His eyes completely lit up and he tuned in to his toothless smile. Then he began to wiggle and giggle merrily.
I looked around and saw the source of his joy. He was a man in a ragged and dirty coat. He was wearing pants with a half-opened zipper and his toes were sticking out of his shoes. The shirt was no cleaner than his coat and his hair was messy and unwashed. His beard was too short to be called a beard, and he had so many veins on his nose that he felt like a map.
We were too far from him to smell, but I was sure it certainly didn’t smell good. He waved even more happily at our Eric. ‘Hello, honey, hello, boy. I see you, bud.’ My husband and I exchanged views: ‘What are we going to do?’
Erik continued to giggle and answered him, ‘Hello, hello.’ Everyone at the restaurant noticed and looked at us and then at the man. That old grandpa harassed my beautiful baby.
They brought us food and the man started shouting across the room: ‘Do you know ‘did the dog jump over the oats’? Baf! Look, look, he knows Baf!’ No one thought the old man was cute. He was clearly drunk. My husband and I were more than embarrassed. We ate in silence, all except Erik, who showed off his art to an admiring homeless man who reciprocated it with wannabe cute comments.
We finally finished eating and headed for the door. The husband went to pay the bill and told me to wait for it in the parking lot. The age-marked man was sitting between me and the door. ‘God, get me out of here before they speak to me or Erika,’ I prayed.
When I approached the man, I turned my back to avoid not only him but also his alcoholic fumes. At that moment, Erik leaned over my shoulder and held out both hands in the ‘pick me up’ position, as the little children do. Before I could stop him, Erik bounced from my hands into the man’s arms.
Suddenly a very old smelly man and a very young child hugged each other happily. In a gesture of complete trust, love and surrender, Erik placed his little head on the man’s torn shoulder. The man closed his eyes and I saw tears glistening under his lashes. His old hands, full of dirt, pain and hard work, gently, gently, caressed my child’s back.
No two people have ever loved each other so deeply for such a short time!
I stood in amazement. The old man rocked Erik in his arms for a moment, then opened his eyes and looked at me intently. In a firm, authoritative voice, he said, ‘Take care of the child properly!’
Somehow I managed to say: ‘I’ll take care,’ even though I had a lump in my throat.
He tore Erik away from his chest – reluctantly, with a desire, as if it hurt. I took Erik back into my arms and the man said, ‘God bless you, madam. You gave me a Christmas present.’
I just mumbled my thanks. I ran to the car with Erik in my arms. My husband wondered why I was crying and holding Erik so tightly, and why I said, ‘My God, my God, forgive me!’
I had just witnessed the love of Jesus shown through the innocence of a little child who judged no one; A child who saw a soul and a mother who saw clothes. I behaved like a blind Christian who held a child who was not blind. I felt that God was asking me: ‘Are you willing to share your son for a moment?’, when he shared his own forever.
The ragged old man unknowingly reminded me: ‘ If you do not convert and are not like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.’ Matthew 18:3
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Anonymous, http://god-bless-you.org/?p=1522
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jeep with a soldier
Lauria
It was only a few days before Christmas, and the young priest in a small town on the eastern plains of Colorado was sitting in the confessional in his church, which was still completely empty. When the church door opened, he looked out for a moment. He saw a little boy walking inside. Because it was freezing outside, he was dressed in very flimsy clothes. First of all, he went to the old radiator to warm up. When the cold disappeared from his hands and face, he looked around the church and his gaze rested on the nativity scene.
The young priest remained in his seat, the boy did not notice him and approached the manger. He looked quietly at Jesus in the manger for a moment and then spoke, ‘You’re also poor. It doesn’t look like you’d get any toys for Christmas.’ A tear ran down his face. ‘You know what I want so much for Christmas?’ The boy continued to confide in Jesus. ‘An army jeep with a real driver behind the wheel. Any, but a soldier must sit in it!’
The priest was moved. His parish was not large, but he did not know this boy, and it was clear from his clothes that they would not have money for toys or food in his home.
‘I bet you’ll get me the military jeep with the driver. I’ll come at the same time tomorrow and see you again!’ With these words, the boy left the church and went out into the cold.
When the priest finished his service in the church, he did what he thought was right – he went to find a jeep with a soldier. A toy in the form of a jeep was not difficult to find, but one in which a soldier sat – that was a difficult task! But the boy insisted, he was completely clear about his wish.
It was a small town and the priest went around all the shops, but he couldn’t find any jeep with the driver. He went to a neighboring town and finally, after a long search, discovered exactly what he needed.
Early in the morning the next day, the priest from the rectory went to the church and curled up in the coat in the cold. His thoughts were fixed on the little boy. ‘What does it look like at his house? Do they even have heating?’ These thoughts bothered him, but as he was holding a jeep with a soldier driver in his glove, he felt relief. ‘At least Santa will have a present for him.’
The priest carefully placed the toy car with the soldier next to the manger, where the baby Jesus was lying, and arranged the candles so that the light fell on the toy. Then he continued with his daily tasks and later in the afternoon he went to sit in the confessional again. Time passed, but the boy did not appear. Darkness began to fill the church, and only the warm candlelight illuminated the bench. The priest considered turning on the lights, but then dismissed the idea because he was still hoping the boy would appear at any moment.
And indeed! The silence was interrupted by the squeaking and creaking of the hinges, and a little boy from yesterday appeared at the back of the church. He went to the radiator again to warm up. After a while he looked around the darkened church, and with the feeling that he was all alone, he approached the nativity scene.
The priest was tense with anxiety. When the candles near the nativity scene illuminated the boy’s face, the priest saw in his eyes the magic of Christmas coming to life.
‘I knew you would find him!’ exclaimed the boy happily. ‘That’s exactly the jeep I wanted, with a real soldier!’
However, a slight shadow suddenly appeared on his face. ‘But I have nothing to give you,’ he said. ‘Maybe I’ll find you something at home.’ He turned and walked down the aisle. Suddenly he stopped, went back, clutching the jeep tightly in one hand, and hiding something in the other. He reached the manger, placed the object in the cradle with the baby Jesus, said: ‘I will share with you, Merry Christmas’ – and left the church.
The faint light did not allow the priest to see what the boy shared with the baby Jesus. But after the creaking door closed behind the boy, he went around the manger and what he saw in the crib brought tears to his eyes. The boy put the part of his toy in the crib with Jesus, which made it so special – a soldier!
A true story? Yes, I heard it from a young priest at midnight mass at Christmas in Colorado two years ago. He told it better than I managed to write it down. And you know what he did at the end of the mass? – He raised his hand with a soldier in the palm of his hand!
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Christmas Love, Joy and Hope
Christmas was a unique event that took place in a small country, a small town, two thousand years ago. But thanks to this one event, the light and truth of God’s love poured into the hearts and minds of all who believed in him. The birth of Jesus was tangible evidence for the entire universe about the all-encompassing power of God’s love.
The apostle Paul called him ‘a picture of the invisible God’ And he said that ‘All was created through him and for him and in him he holds everything together’ (Colossians 1:15-17).
The Bible predicted that it would be a force for the poor, help for the needy, and desperate, and a refuge from the storm (Isaiah 25:4 NKJV). Christ, a child who was the most precious gift that God could give to mankind, humbled himself to accept human form, and humbled himself even more by death on the cross (Philippians 2:8).
Jesus came to bring peace, for he is by the prince of the room (Isaiah 9:6). He came to bring healing and hope to all people in the whole world.
Jesus’ coming to earth was the most selfless act we can imagine. And as if that wasn’t enough, he made the ultimate sacrifice and sacrificed his life for us. Thanks to Jesus’ sacrifice of love and his resurrection three days later, God offers eternal life with him to all who believe in Jesus and accept him. What an incomprehensible depth of love and what an indescribable gift to all of humanity (2 Corinthians 9:15)!
We know that Jesus decided to accept the human form and live life within the limits and limitations of time in the physical world and face everything that we as human beings face. God, out of love for us, despite our sins and failures, decided to make the ultimate sacrifice.
The Christmas message of God’s gift of salvation and the promise of the future, in which there will be no more pain, suffering or tears, is becoming more and more relevant every day, because what is happening around us disrupts our sense of security in this life (Revelation 21:4).
May a message of hope be heard in our hearts this Christmas and may spread to our surroundings through our lives. Let each of us contribute to the spread of the Christmas message that Jesus is our eternal hope and answer for those who are looking for truth and the meaning of life.
Let us share the glad tidings that Jesus loves every person so much that he has taken on human form so that he can live the life we are all facing, without protection from his difficulties and twists. Although he is the son of God, he faced difficult situations in culture from the moment of his conception, where the unmarried mother faced exclusion from society. He did not choose an easy path in life, because in his love for us he wanted to fully experience human existence.
His earthly parents experienced exile and fled into exile as refugees, thus fulfilling the prophecies in the Bible that predicted the events of his birth and life (Ossea 11:1; Isaiah 7:14). No matter what we go through in this life, we can find hope and comfort in the certainty that Jesus really understands everything we experience, and that he can support us and help us manage anything.
Let us contribute to the spread of love, joy and the Christmas promise that hope exists and that everyone – no matter who is and what his life was like – is invited to his kingdom of peace, love, joy and eternal life. May we always be ready to spread his message of peace, good will and love, so that others can experience the true meaning and joy of Christmas.
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Our blessed Messiah came down from heaven and came into the world to submit to shame, to endure scourging, and to suffer death to save humanity from the state in which it was lost. God has designated him for this task and God does not make mistakes.
• He spoke with complete freedom and authority on every topic.
• He knew as much about the future as he did about the present world. The past, the present and the future were like an open book for him.
• He adapted his teachings to his listeners.
He gave the world a new idea of the kingdom of heaven. He presented and showed a new understanding of God as the Father and the brotherhood of humanity. All other teachers pales before him. His words convince the intellect, move the heart and touch the conscience. His teachings and miracles prove his power to save the lost. During the three years of his public activity, he has done enough to prove forever that he has the power to save sinners.
Of all the gifts we have ever received, the most precious one descended from heaven in the form of a small child, wrapped in diapers and lying in the manger. What a glorious day it was! The greatest gift of God was his own Son, Jesus, who was given to us without us deserved it in any way. The greatest gift we can repay him at Christmas is to make it a part of our life. –Ruth
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“He left the splendor of heaven”
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
My good friend Mark told me that his mother is an organist at a church in North Pennsylvania and usually plays the song ‘If this is not love’ as a prelude to the service at the first Advent Mass.
The song begins with a verse: ‘He left the beauty of the heavens.’ At Christmas we focus on where Jesus came, on planet Earth. But this sentence reminds us of where he came from, from the splendor of the heavens.
He left the splendor of heaven,
aware of your destiny.
It was a lonely mountain Golgotha,
where he laid down his life for me.
I read an interesting comparison. ’20 July 1969 Apollo 11 astronauts landed on the moon. It was an unprecedented human success. Millions of people remember the words of Neil Armstrong: ‘It’s a small step for a person, but a big leap for Humanity.’”
Two thousand years ago, the Creator of the Moon made a huge leap of a completely different kind. He descended from heaven to earth. God the Son left heaven to become fully man, remaining fully God. It was an amazing ‘jump’ that showed us God’s heart full of love.
God has truly left the splendor of the heavens in his incarnation. In the impressive prologue of John’s Gospel we read: And the eternal word became a person who lived among us. (John 1:14).
The apostle Paul states in his wonderful excerpt: Although God himself was, he did not demand divine claims, he put aside his glory and power, he became a man. (Philippians 2:5-7).
C.S. Lewis wrote so succinctly: ‘The Son of God became the Son of Man, so that the sons of man could become sons of God’. – What a truth!
Let’s remember this wonderful truth today, this Christmas season and throughout our lives! Our lives and destinies changed forever because God left the beauty of heaven and came to this earth. That’s why we look up to him now, because he gave everything for us!
