Day 14
Gentle Mary laid her Child
Lowly in a manger.
There He lay, the Undefiled,
To the world a stranger.
Such a Babe in such a place,
Can He be the Savior?
Ask the saved of all the race
Who have found His favor.
Pastor Alaina had been very encouraging in the half-hour Celia spent on the phone with her, although Celia could hear the pain in her voice. Whatever Celia wrote would be fine. No one would be expecting the Sermon on the Mount. Just give them a good story and they will go home humming the carols. “I’ll be praying for you.”
Celia studied her reflection in her office mirror. She and Joe had decorated the room as a nursery when they were expecting Merry, who was due on December 20th. Above the cradle, Joe had hung a favorite painting of Celia’s — the Holy Family resting under a star-bright sky. Nestling her baby in her arms, Mary gazed with awe into her baby’s face — a look that any mother might have on seeing her first born. Joseph stood guard over them with much the same look on his face.
Every new baby is a miracle, but this one most especially so. Celia had wanted to see that look on her own face, so she asked Joe to put up a mirror. He had added a whimsical frame. Frog and Toad, Wilbur and Charlotte, Piglet and Pooh, the grinning Cheshire Cat, and the procrastinator’s patron saint, the White Rabbit, peeked around the frame into the glass. Celia had positioned a chair where she could see herself as she nursed her newborn.
True to form, Merry had arrived late — on Christmas Eve — and lived up to her name in every way. Instead of crying, she sighed her way into the world, a soft smile lifting her lips. Joe and Celia gazed for hours into her eyes that first day. The day after Christmas, when they took their baby home, was less heavenly.
Advent Challenge: From smiles to sighs to sorrows; from sorrows to sighs to smiles, life moves on. No one expected that a child born in a lowly manger would be the Savior of the world. Mary and Joseph focused on the miracle of their child, not the humble surroundings. What do you see when you look into the face of Jesus? Do your sighs and sorrows stand in the way of the smiles God sends you? Each new day brings miracles and trials. Focus on the miracles.
Prayer: Gentle Mary laid her Child lowly in a manger. He is still the Undefiled, but no more a stranger. Son of God of humble birth, beautiful the story. Praise His name in all the earth. Hail! The King of Glory! Precious Jesus, help us to focus on your miracles. Son of God of humble birth, help us focus on your glory. King of Glory, we praise your holy name. Amen
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