But you see, it is not just the minds of people that the Great Spirit wants to reach. The intellect of a human being often assents to the truth of something without following it. "I know I shouldn't eat this, but..." "I know I should learn to forgive, but..." "Drugs can kill you, but..." "I know I'm married, but...." And the list goes on.
In fact, if the Great Spirit wanted to reach the minds of human beings, he could have stopped with the Ten Commandments. For dramatic effect, he could have renewed his rules from time to time by writing them in the sky for everyone to gawk at, like one of those sky-writing planes.
No, it was not the minds of people that needed reaching. Not then. Not today. It is the heart that must be opened.
And for that to be accomplished, Jesus had to come as he did. A baby. Born with every strike against him. A stable for a bed. Parents who were not married when he was conceived. Poor people. No savings accounts. No IRAs. No hospitalization insurance. No Christmas tree, ornaments or gifts to be opened.
I am only too aware that too many adults do not love and cherish little babies today. We have read about them being dumped into public toilets or trash cans, or beaten to death by live-in boyfriends. And the bad joke of welfare "reform" has dumped another million babies into poverty in the richest nation on earth. No, not everyone loves a little baby.
But if there is a heart to be reached in a person, if there is a soul that has not been sold for self-centeredness in the extreme, then a baby can touch that heart and give life to that soul.
A baby is totally vulnerable, just like the heart of the Creator. And the life of Jesus at the end was just as vulnerable as at the beginning.
This was a far cry from the fire-belching volcanos of vengeance that some people worshipped in those days. But, come to think of it, some preachers today seem to prefer belching fire, creating fear and issuing harsh indictments upon those who deign to disagree with them on some pet project of their intellect.
Let the record show that when the baby Jesus grew to adulthood, the only condemnation of anyone that he ever made was to the religious leaders who had completely missed the point of his coming.
When he was born, his mother held him in her arms. When he died, his mother held him in her arms. And today, that is what the Great Mystery longs for us to do.
<hr><FONT SIZE=3> This article posted to Zephyr online December 20, 1997<CENTER><IMG src="http://www.misslink.net/zephyr/hline.gif"></CENTER><CENTER><A href=HTTP://www.misslink.net/zephyr><IMG src="http://www.misslink.net/zephyr/baktozep.gif" alt="Back to the Zephyr home page."></A><A href=MAILTO:zephyr@misslink.net><IMG src="http://www.misslink.net/zephyr/sendmail.gif" alt="Send us e
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