DAY 2 : HUMAN BIRTH  Luke 2:6,7

 What is your experience with childbirth? I mean like really being there at the moment, in the room. Obviously, the answers will vary pretty widely. My wife, who has had 5 very personal and involved experiences, will answer very differently than me. I was there every time, heck I even helped on a couple of them, but… Maybe the closest you’ve been to childbirth is the zillion Instagram posts from your friend who just had their first baby. Here is what I know from my male side: childbirth is very messy, loud, painful, distressing - decidedly UN-serene. I know of a friend who gave birth in the back seat of their car - way less than the ideal setting. Imagine it.

Now imagine all of that mess, noise, pain, distress in a garage or a barn, in a foreign town, after a 4-7 day donkey ride, and your midwife is your carpenter-handed fiance’.

 Now go back and read Luke 2: 6,7. Does it read differently? Does it sound like the epitome of understatement? Do you normally read that and picture the Precious Angels nativity scene on your mom’s mantle?

 And then the question arises? Why? Why would King God choose this? (Don’t be too quick with your answer. There is so much weight here and the answer can’t be short and simple.)

REFLECTION :

Morning Pause: Let this sit in you and stir in you as you go about your day. Again, pause and ask God to surprise you with something new today. Try to let the reality of this incredibly humble birth sink into someplace new in you.

Afternoon Pause: What are some of the thoughts, ideas, wonderings that you have had as this has stirred in you?

Evening Pause: Write your own metaphor or simile to describe in a new way this event.

(This birth story is like…   As I have chewed on this today I see/think/wonder…..)