God present in a child

As a child, the time from Advent to Christmas seemed to be endless. I felt the anticipation in my bones, my mind and my talks were filled with only one question: how many days before Christmas? For a small human being, Christmas was always too far away. And yet, Christmas came eventually, every year.

Half a century later, it feels as if time flies from Advent to Christmas. I try to finish everything before Christmas, clean the desk and at home – finalize the whole universe.

Christmas is because God was born as human being. The Creator of everything was born as a small child, totally dependent of care by others. God becomes one of the most vulnerable ones, a newborn child. This God does in order to tell us how God loves us and longs to enter our lives.

This is what Jesus spoke about when he said: “Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, …”   (Luke 9:48). God is present in a child.

We have a great responsibility of children. The Declaration of Children´s Rights, which had it´s 60th anniversary this year, reminds us about that. It is on the responsibility of us adults, to make sure that every child receives love and care – and that tomorrow is good and worth to wait and trust for.

A child longs to be seen and heard, and invites an adult to stay, to linger at the presence of a child. This is the invitation we receive also from the God Incarnated: stay by the Child, linger at the manger. If we care to do this, we might catch a glimpse of the childhood anticipation. It is anticipation with joy, joy because God borns in our midst.

At the manger, the time stops, the Heaven touches the Earth, eternity touches this limited time given for us human beings.

With best wishes for a blessed Christmas

Kaisamari