christ [mas] morning

bright and early I woke
and with a rub of my eyes
I remembered what day this was
off flew the warm blankets
on went the smile and laughter
and fairly soon
it had all begun,
though really,

it had begun much long ago
at the beginning of the world's time to be precise.

but let us fast forward from then
and backtrack from now
to the dirty, bustling, crowded city of
Bethlehem.

she was pregnant
she was shamed by her family and friends
and he was too, for keeping her
[a shame which all three of them would suffer
the rest of their lives]

they were tired from the long, slow trip south
only to be met by filled-streets
and horrified relatives,
seeing her bulging stomach
knowing they weren't yet wed
no, there was "no room" for them

and the young girl
probably about to cry in desperation
gave birth to her baby boy
in a cattle shed.

she lay her son in a hard manger
softened only by cattle's feed of bristly straw
and lay back exhausted
how would it feel to know that you had born the Messiah--the promised one?

he came to save his people,
but not just the Jewish nation
you
and me.
yes, those oppressed people, slaves to the Greeks
and then the Romans [for years]
without direct messages from God
for 400 years

were not the only captives set free by his coming

that's the message of the Bible.
but, i must be clear, it's only half of the message


because a little over thirty years later,
this little baby would grow up to become a man
who would finally fulfill his purpose for coming to earth
that is,
to die
for you
and me
and to be raised back to life

so that those who believe him--
with active belief, the kind that can't wait to tell the world--
that those who die with him

would be set free
saved
rescued from sin and death
forever.


and the best part is...


he's coming back.