Every night watching the Channel 11 evening news, my housemates and I are inspired by the stories of people who are making a difference in our world. Sometimes they are celebrities. But often they are ordinary people, girls and boys, seniors, young adults, like your neighbors. These people, however, are extraordinary because they see a need and respond to it. And they involve others around them to spread the care and love.
I thought about that after watching the particularly poignant story of 94-year-old Loren Krueger, a retired farmer from Leroy, Minn., who left $3 million to his small town of 95 inhabitants. That act of generosity is amazing in itself, but what the beneficiaries did is even more amazing: they gave most of it to the meet the needs of others in town.
Making a difference, seeing a need and responding, inspiring others to do the same. Isn’t this what Christmas is all about? In a divine act of love, God took on our human flesh in order to make an everlasting difference in our world. God so loved the world that the Word of God was made flesh and dwelt among us. This act of generous love is amazing!
I thought about that after watching the particularly poignant story of 94-year-old Loren Krueger, a retired farmer from Leroy, Minn., who left $3 million to his small town of 95 inhabitants. That act of generosity is amazing in itself, but what the beneficiaries did is even more amazing: they gave most of it to the meet the needs of others in town.
Making a difference, seeing a need and responding, inspiring others to do the same. Isn’t this what Christmas is all about? In a divine act of love, God took on our human flesh in order to make an everlasting difference in our world. God so loved the world that the Word of God was made flesh and dwelt among us. This act of generous love is amazing!
And what is also amazing is that in this Incarnation of Jesus, has a profound effect on our world. Because Jesus bridged the gap between the divine and the human, everything is holy now. Peter Mayer, in his song “Holy Now,” captures the essence of this miracle:
This morning I stood outside
and saw a little red-winged bird
shining like a burning bush
singing like a scripture verse
it made me want to bow my head…”
Everything, everything, everything is holy now
Everything’s a miracle.
This morning I stood outside
and saw a little red-winged bird
shining like a burning bush
singing like a scripture verse
it made me want to bow my head…”
Everything, everything, everything is holy now
Everything’s a miracle.
(from the CD Million Year Mind)
Shall we look carefully to see that because of the Incarnation everything is holy now, everything is a miracle? Shall we look into the face of a child, at bread and wine, and see that everything is holy now, everything is a miracle? Shall we recognize that seeing a need and responding, inspiring others to do the same, makes a difference, and that everything is holy now, is a miracle to celebrate?
Shall we look carefully to see that because of the Incarnation everything is holy now, everything is a miracle? Shall we look into the face of a child, at bread and wine, and see that everything is holy now, everything is a miracle? Shall we recognize that seeing a need and responding, inspiring others to do the same, makes a difference, and that everything is holy now, is a miracle to celebrate?
photo: deer in winter by Nancy Bauer, OSB
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