Carrying the Christ child out into the world

Merry Christmas!  Today with all its hustle and bustle is a hard day to find the quiet needed for meditation.  Lucky for us Christmas lasts 8 days in our Church, we have the Octave of Christmas.  That gives us plenty of time to reflect on the meaning of our Savior coming into the world, what that means for us, and how we are called to respond.

I have a suggestion for a meditation.  Read the nativity story in Luke's Gospel.  Find a quiet comfortable space, set the scene in a way that will help you focus your mind.  I use a dark quiet room with candles and incense.  Read over the story once to familiarize yourself with it and then again slowly contemplating each sentence.  Next pray to the Holy Spirit to guide you as you meditate on the birth of Christ.  Close your eyes, imagine what the stable where was born, what does it smell like?  There are animals and hay.  What does it sound like?  Do you hear the animals?  Mary and Joseph are they talking?  How does the air feel, is it cold, or damp, or warm?  What do you see?  Look around in your mind.  Look at Joseph, how does he look?  Look at Mary, what do you see?  Finally, let your eyes rest on the Christ child.  What do see?  How do you feel?  Ask Mary if you can hold Him.  Take the Love of the world into your arms.  Gaze at Him, warm and helpless in your arms.  Sit there for a while just holding Him quietly.  Let go, and the Holy Spirit guide you.  There are no wrong answers here, let go and let God.

Now imagine that He never leaves your arms.  You are to carry Him out into the world.  To every person you meet, you carry Him to them.  What is it like to carry Him to your friends, family, and coworkers?  How do explain, who it is that you carry?  The world is introduced to our Savior by you.  He cannot speak to them, you have to speak for Him.  Or better yet, if you let Him, He can speak through you.  What does that mean for you and how you live your life.  If you hide the Christ child and refuse to show Him to anyone except those who already carry Him, are you doing His will.  Do you get tired and refuse to carry Him?  By your actions, do you show the Christ to be Love incarnate, or a fraud?  As Christians, we are embassadors of our faith to the world.

With New Year coming take sometime and write a few resolutions based on what the Holy Spirit lead you to see.  if you want to you can share some of what you learned in a comment.  May God bless you and keep you.