Jesus is Missing...

   My Mother was a crafty person. She seemed to always have a project going on at home. Ceramics to paint, tin to snip, and her most prolific hobby, one that lasted almost to her last days with us, a rug to hook.

   We have several of her rugs in our condo, and our kids have some too. It's a visible reminder of her and her love of life in its many facets.

   Then there is the magnet scene. The one that we take out each Christmas. Not only a reminder of her work, but a visible link to Christmases past, an enjoyment that we pass down to our kids and theirs.

   So yesterday, we got out the box that holds those ceramic figures and put it out in the living room. So many people had handled that set; we even used it in our church when we were a new congregation a few years back.

   Each figure put in its place on the burlap board, a colorful tradition in full view and ready for smaller hands to touch and feel and remember the meaning of the Holiday.

   But, mimicking a famous conversation, "Houston, we have a problem", Jesus was missing.

   Mary, Joseph, shepherds, wise men, camels, a donkey, sheep, and a manger in the stall, but no baby was found for the manger. After a diligent search, nothing…

   Thinking about the situation, the thought hit me:

   You cannot have Christmas without Jesus. You can have all the shepherds you want, and wise men, too. You can have a flock of sheep and several camels, but it will not be right.

   We can give all the gifts, have all the pageants, sing all the carols and eat all the traditional meals, but
you don't have the real meaning.

   So, what to do?

   Right now we have a manger scene without a baby in the manger, but perhaps that is not so bad. We can leave it that way as a constant reminder of the real Christmas story.

   What we all need is not a ceramic baby in a manger, but a real, alive, savior reigning in our hearts and active in our lives.

   This is my reminder and my faith..