I have quite the extensive collection of Christmas picture books. Some are about Santa, or Christmas trees, or family celebrations gone awry, but most are retellings of this beloved Christmas story we heard tonight – of Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus, of shepherds and angels. I love the creative perspectives and bright, beautiful illustrations in each book, and look forward to pulling them out of storage each Advent and Christmas season.
Even though I shouldn’t be buying more things that we’ll just have to pack up and move soon, I ordered a new book last week, called “The Last Straw”, and we read it last night at bedtime. The story is about a camel who is chosen to accompany the magi on their trip to find the new baby king. As people hear of this trip, they implore the camel to add their meager gifts to the load he carries on his back, each a special present for this new baby king. Though the camel complains about his tiredness and his various ailments (My gout! My sciatica!), his pride compels him to accept each new gift, for early on he had bragged to the young camels that he had the strength of ten horses.
 |
| Photo by Fynn schmidt on Unsplash |
They finally reach the outskirts of Bethlehem, following the bright star, and the poor camel is plodding ever more slowly, determined to make it, though his back is stacked precariously with gifts of all shapes and sizes. As he spots the stable over which the star rests, the camel is approached by one last person, a small boy who wishes to offer as a gift a single straw for the new baby king’s bed. Though it is light and small, this straw is, as you might have guessed, the last straw, which finally topples the burdened camel to his knees.
I wonder if you, too, can relate to the poor camel, weary and burdened as he is. Perhaps your to-do list is still long and unfinished even at 7:30pm on Christmas Eve, and you are not sure how everything will get done in time. Or perhaps you are burdened by grief, heart heavy with sadness about those missing from your celebrations this year. Perhaps the brightness and loudness and joy of the holiday are just too much, and you long for the day to be over. Or maybe you are feeling joyful and excited, but aren’t sure how to express it in the midst of a world filled with so much loss, pain, illness, uncertainty, and fear.
Whatever mix of emotions, whatever burdens you carry this night, you are in good company. Know that this story is for you. Though we hear about the angel choirs and good news of great joy, we are reminded that many other emotions were present that long-ago night.
We think of Mary, exhausted from the journey and from laboring in less-than-ideal circumstances. Mary, surprised by visitors and quietly pondering the shepherds’ message in her heart.
We think of Joseph, burdened by worry about how he could provide for his family, for I can’t imagine that this stable was where he planned for his beloved to give birth.
We think of the shepherds, terrified as the angel appears and the glory of God shines around them, curious as they follow the angel’s instructions, and then glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen.
And, of course, Jesus. Brand new, helpless and vulnerable – perhaps asleep on the hay, or maybe squalling and hungry.
Whatever burdens you carry tonight, I hope that you can find yourself in this story. Because however you feel – exhausted or joyful, uncertain or grieving, overwhelmed by excitement or by worry – Jesus is born for you. The promise of Christmas is that God comes near to us, becoming human, joining us in the pain and grief and wonder and joy that is characteristic of our life together. The promise of Christmas is not that the world will be perfect, but that God will be with us, no matter what.
At the very end of the book “The Last Straw”, after the camel collapses to his knees next to the manger, the Magi look over at him. Interpreting his kneeling not as a sign of weariness, but as a way of honoring this new baby king, they, too, sink to their knees, offering homage and praise to the one who was born for us.
May our weariness and pain, too, be received as praise for the Christ child. May we find healing and comfort, peace and love this night.
Comments
Post a Comment