Our Little Town of Bethlehem

Most of us know at least in part the Christmas story if for no other reason we see Mary, Joseph, and the Baby in a traditional place in many homes this time of the year. Usually, not far from the manger scene is the wise men or magi, as some may call them. Baby Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and his mother was Mary. Since she was in the inn's stable, with animals all around, Mary placed her newborn in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes. Right? Well, let me tell you another story I witnessed many years ago. The manger was placed in the center of the stage in our sanctuary, made with crudely cut slats of wood and filled with fresh hay. The bewildered mother, Mary, fidgeted and patted, but she could not calm sweet baby Jesus. But in her wisdom, she got up and handed him to the Wiseman standing nearby. Knowing what to do, this Wiseman jiggled and consoled him for the next thirty minutes while the rest of the program went on at our church. You see, this beautiful baby Jesus was none other than Nicholas Drew, and that Wiseman was Larry, my sweet husband. This baby Jesus recognized the gentle touch and familiar rocking of one who loved him so much and knew what he needed. So in Wiseman garb, the man for the job in love comforted the wiggly infant. Sometimes, especially in these uncertain times, we are anxious and worried about what might happen next, whether it be with our job, our health, or our world as we have always known it. As you know, the roles in my little story are reversed. It is not Jesus who needs consoled or brought up to date. He is not confused or bewildered by the current circumstances we find ourselves in today. He is not racking his brain to develop plan B, nor does he need a Wiseman to consult with him. It is we, His children, who long for His touch. We find ourselves thirsty in a dry land, longing for relief that can only come from God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Our Nicholas is a grown man now and no longer needs to be consoled by us, but like all of us, he needs comfort when times are hard, and we find ourselves waiting, as they say, for the other shoe to drop in this uncertain world. I smile today with hope in my heart, thinking of this beautiful change that came to our “Little Town of Bethlehem.”