As you know, Baxter was a foundling. I got him at a rescue center when he was only four months old. His parents were unknown. He probably would not have made it to adulthood, unless someone brought him to the no-kill shelter. I don’t know who that was. I just know that their care and kindness allowed Baxter and me to find each other. The rest is history, as they say. If anyone tells stories about me after I am gone, Baxter will be part of the narrative, and vice versa. That’s what happens when a genuine relationship of caring and sharing is formed—even across species. We become part of each other’s life story.
God is looking for such a relationship with each of us. He wants to become part of our life stories, and He wants to include us in His story. So He meets us on our terms. “And the Word became flesh and lived among us,” Saint John wrote. God took on our humanity in Jesus. He was born, lived and died as a human being, all so that we could connect with Him and know the meaning and purpose for living.
When Jesus was born, a special and unique process of divine revelation began. Now we see God in human ways, and we see our human ways from a divine perspective. We identify the divine presence in human works of justice and mercy, of compassion and forgiveness. We see divine inspiration in our search for cures for diseases, in our efforts to live in peace, and in the men and women who arise among us who are truly wise and magnanimous. We name the divine power at work when good comes out of evil, when truth prevails over deceptions and falsehoods, when we find a hidden beauty in the midst of the ugliness of poverty, war and death. When God embraced our humanity in Jesus, not just the Son of God was born. The whole human race was given the chance to be born again of God.
Christmas says to us, “We are orphans no longer. We have a name in God.” When the First Son was born to us, God adopted everyone who responds to His love as sons and daughters, and so all human beings are called to be brothers and sisters in Christ. We are related in grace to the Holy One, and our lives are intertwined with God and each other in a holy communion. Bethlehem is a much bigger story than we first imagined it to be. What happened there continues to play out in human history until the end of time. We contribute to this unfolding when, in the particular circumstances of our lives, we try to live faithfully.
When I found Baxter he had no real name. The shelter staff called him “Elmer”, but I knew that wasn’t the right name for him. I called him “Baxter”, and now he knows his name and responds when I call. God gave us each our names when we were baptized in Christ. Please respond when He calls, and add your own piece to the Christmas story.
