For many of you, the Bible sounds like a bunch of fairy tales. For me, confession, I struggle with certain stories in the Bible. The Immaculate Conception can be one of them. That is a trip; for lack of better words. A baby conceived between a woman and a Holy Spirit is mind boggling. At least for us humans that think too much.
For some of you, you have the gift of a simple faith. For most of us, we do think too much. We are critical thinkers and natural skeptics. The more we do that, the more likely we like to control others and try to play God. Think you don't? What stick are you holding onto? If you dare, here is your play of the day...
You heard my earlier confession. Despite the fairy tale-ish stories, why do I still choose to believe? First, I've read the whole book more than once and certain parts over and over. When you do that, the whole book makes way more sense than if you isolate certain parts.
Two, if you choose to believe in God than anything is possible.
Three, the saying Truth is stranger than fiction exists for a reason.
Four, so many prior to us and many after will attempt to prove this wrong. The deeper they dive in to tear it down, the stronger of a believer for God they become. See Lee Strobel, Dr. Francis Collins, C.S. Lewis and countless others.
Back to Mary, let's just use some deductive logic...
If we were to have a Messiah that would never sin. It is fair to say that it would be impossible for that human to come from two humans. We are all flawed. God would have to be in the mix.
For Joseph to hang around, especially back then, God would have to be involved. Not just Joseph, think about Mary's family. Getting pregnant in 2020 out of wedlock is the norm. Over 2,000 years ago, it was severely taboo. In Mary's society, if you were caught getting pregnant before marriage, you were stoned to death.
More important, this little baby grows up to change the world. Fulfills all the prophecies written in the Torah, Nevi'in, Tanakh, Old Testament. Jesus even works his way into the Koran and major Roman, Greek and other historical documents. He shaped your calendar.
Most important, this baby grows up and fulfills the promise and key to you and life eternal in heaven. You still doubt me, go back to the episode of "What Happens When You Die?".
From the heart, wishing you a very Merry Christmas! If your Christmas is dark this year, you are not alone. When in doubt bet on Hope. Bet on the greatest gift of your life - John 3:16.
If you are digging this, we will add the future links here for further Christmas reflection...stay tuned. "Deeper: Wondering about Wonder" is now live. If you are digging this post, here is the listen that inspired the above message. If you are wondering how your life and purpose has anything to do with Mary's life and choices, check out Christmas: Your Plans vs. God's. If you have kids, check out this gem...Kid's Christmas Special.
Ending on a song note, you may not be joyful. Would you say we need some more joy? Absolutely we need some more joy, hope and Light. So let us strive for that. No matter how down you may be, give joy that this broken planet isn't it. Give joy that there is an eternal gift and promise of a life with no more tears. For now, I promise you will find more joy as you tune in more and serve others more. Now go, take Casey's cue at the end, check in with your neighborhood. You will get joy by bringing joy to others...