And the word became flesh
and dwelt among us
as one of us.

After arduous and diligent digs for the past twenty-five years at Mount Precipice, or Mount of the Leap, in the southern outskirts of Nazareth, overlooking the Jezre’el Valley, archeologists are giddy over recent discoveries that are the fruit of their labors. They have unearthed a number of ancient jars, one of which contained a scroll dated around the first century CE. The parchments are considered to be in surprisingly good condition such that—with the help of modern tools of technology—scholars have been able to render not only the title of the text written in Hebrew but a good portion of its contents as well. The document bears the title Jokes Я Us.

Of particular note and interest to historians of humor and companions of Jesus is the following riddle that comes with an accompanying image (or at least half of the image):

“Why did the priest and the Levite cross the road?”

And the retort, “Because they were chicken.” (D’ja see what I did there?)

There are few stories from any culture or era more widely known than Jesus’ parable that appears in the Gospel of Luke and is commonly called by the description ascribed to the protagonist of the parable—“The Good Samaritan.” This parable is the archetypal story depicting the universal quandary of whether or not to get involved.

A man has been beaten, bloodied, burgled, stripped and tossed like rubbish into the ditch alongside the road to Jericho. Given that the ditch was not especially steep or deep, the discarded man was hard not to see by passersby. Jesus famously blindsides, if not offends, the Jewish listener’s expectations not only by having a priest and Levite (religious figures of different status and responsibilities) cross the street to avoid having to deal with the man in the ditch, but also by having of all characters a Samaritan—who were enemies of the Jews—be the courageous and compassionate one who stops and goes out of his way to help the man who was in great need of help.

Today, Christians celebrate the incarnation of love. We sing, “Hodie, Christus natus est!” TODAY, Christ is born! We re-member ourselves to and celebrate the story of how “the Word (logos) became flesh and dwelt among us.” During Advent we caroled, “O come, O come, Emmanuel, which is at one and the same time a description of the Ineffable One—God is with us—and a cry for God’s comforting presence among us, and God’s liberating solidarity with us. I have said elsewhere many times that Jesus is the with-ness and for-ness of God. Jesus is the compassionate face of the One whose face is too glorious to behold directly while on earth but the face that will never go away.

The incarnation, which is a deeper and more expansive truth than merely the birth of Jesus, is the generous and compassionate action of love initiated in the original act of creation, manifested in the sacred presence within matter, made personal and tangible in Jesus of Nazareth’s birth, teachings, way of living and dying, and giving us—in the resurrection and ascension—light in our darkness, courage in our discouragement, hope in our temptation to despair, joy amidst the struggle of being human and a friend of God, and enduring life that is BIGGER, more REAL, and longer LASTING than death.

Today, and throughout the season of Christmas, we celebrate the decision, generosity, and hospitality of the Holy One who allowed the NOT-GOD to come into being.

Today, and throughout the season of Christmas, we give thanks and praise for the living reminder that God is with us, for us, among us, and acting through us if like Mary we say, “Let it be so.”

Today, and throughout the season of Christmas, we re-member ourselves to the life-giving mystery, truth, and implications that Jesus is the involvement of God exemplified and personified. To be or not to be—involved? This is the question? Do we respond to God’s decisive involvement in the human situation by getting involved or by crossing the road to get to the other side, cluck, cluck, clucking on our way?

Today, and throughout the season of Christmas, we remember that like Jesus we are the agents, channels, instruments, and means through which God’s involvement is made manifest here on earth especially for the most vulnerable humans and other-than-human life forms among us.

Today, and throughout the season of Christmas, we celebrate and give thanks for the presence of Christ in our midst, for embodying the mystery, meaning, and manner of the reign of God, for modeling the love ethic and tender mercy that govern and guide the peaceable kin[g]dom where the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the young goat, the calf and the young lion, the viper and the human child will be together as one indivisible and holy communion, and where enemies will not be found—only friends, only family, only life, only love.

Friends of The Sacred Braid, I wish you a blessed, holy, and merry Christmas. Thank you so so much for taking the time to read THE ALMOND TREE and for your generosity this year. Let us value each other’s company as we walk the way of wonder, peace, compassion, love, and joy. May we lift one another up to love and good works as we continue to involve ourselves in what concerns God.
ARTWORK: Embrace of Peace II, George Tooker

♦     ♦ © Dan Miller, 2022. All Rights Reserved. ♦     ♦

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