Words from WW Blog

 “This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:18)

The front porch of my Mamaw and Papaw Helton’s Kentucky farmhouse was a place of storytelling. My dad, uncles, and grandfather would sit in the rockers and porch swings and tell the tales of past events. It did not matter that they had been told and retold and were known as well as an Andy Griffith rerun. They were the stories that entertained. They were the ingredients in the family identity recipe.

Underneath the stories were the reasons, causes and effects that were often lost in the numerous retellings. The why behind the story had been layered over with the recounting of each saga. Pretty soon, the reason for the story had disappeared into the distant past.

The deeper truths and values of our lives are sometimes buried by the narratives that we bring back to the front porch. There is always the danger of forgetting about the hope, grace, peace, faith, and love that are at the root of the stories.

I find that with the story of the birth of Jesus. We’ve told the story so many times that it’s become just a story. We remember the details, but the story is more than the details. Most of us can quote pieces of the conversations between Mary and the angel, the words of the angel to the frightened shepherds who were out in the fields watching their flocks. We know about the inn that had no room, the manger birthplace, and the reason Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem (The Roman census).

The story is powerful. It is impacting. It is miraculous and majestic. It’s more than one of Aesop’s fables or Grimm’s fairy tales. It is the story of the love of God funneled into the form of a newborn who has come to save the world.

During this season of reflection and celebration, may we not lose sight of the grace of God that embraced His humanity.

This entry was posted on December 20, 2023 at 3:16 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.