"Christmas - Do You Hear What I Hear?"
(By Paul H. Dunn; 1987)
Once upon a time, there was a man who looked upon Christmas as a lot of
humbug.
He wasn't a Scrooge. He was a very kind and decent person, generous to his
family, upright in all his dealings with other men. But he didn't believe
all that stuff about an incarnation which churches proclaim at Christmas.
And he was too honest to pretend that he did.
"I am truly sorry to distress you," he told his wife, who was a
faithful
churchgoer, "but I simply cannot understand this claim that God became
man.
It doesn't make any sense to me."
On Christmas Eve, his wife and children went to church for the midnight
service. He declined to accompany them. "I'd feel like a
hypocrite," he
explained. "I'd much rather stay at home. But I'll wait up for
you."
Shortly after his family drove away in the car, snow began to fall. He went
to the window and watched the flurries getting heavier and heavier.
"If we must have a Christmas," he reflected, "it's nice to
have a white
one."
He went back to his chair by the fireside and began to read his newspaper. A
few minutes later, he was startled by a thudding sound. It was quickly
followed by another, then another. He thought that someone must be throwing
snow balls at his living room window.
When he went to the front door to investigate, he found a flock of birds
huddled miserably in the snow. They had been caught in the storm, and in a
desperate search for shelter had tried to fly through his window.
I can't let those poor creatures lie there and freeze, he thought. But how
can I help them?
Then he remembered the barn where the children's pony was stabled. It would
provide a warm shelter. He quickly put on his coat and galoshes and tramped
through the deepening snow to the barn. He opened the doors wide and turned
on the light. But the birds didn't come in.
Food will bring them in, he thought. So he hurried back to the house for
bread crumbs, which he sprinkled on the snow to make a trail into the barn.
To his dismay, the birds ignored the bread crumbs and continued to flop
around helplessly in the snow. He tried shooing them into the barn by
walking around and waving his arms. They scattered in every direction -
except into the warm, lighted barn.
"They find me a strange and terrifying creature," he said to
himself, "and I
can't seem to think of any way to let them know they can trust me. If only I
could be a bird myself for a few minutes, perhaps I could lead them to
safety."
Just at that moment, the church bells began to ring. He stood silently for a
while, listening to the bells pealing the glad tidings of Christmas. Then he
sank to his knees in the snow.
"Now I understand," he whispered. "Now I see why You had to
do it."
"'She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.'" Matthew 1:21 (NIV)
"Better to remain silent and be
thought a fool,
than to speak out and remove all doubt.
(Abraham Lincoln)
"He who guards his mouth and his
tongue
keeps himself from calamity."
Proverbs 21:23 (NIV)
When passing this item on to others, please include the
following information:
Thank you!
