how can this be .....

I was reading an Advent meditation book and this little story was shared:
"The late Dr. Halford Luccock bumped into a woman one day during
      the crowded confusion of Christmas shopping.  Her packages went tumbling
      and Dr. Luccock bent to help her pick them up apologizing earnestly.
      The woman looked at him with irritation and frustration answering
       his apologies with, "it doesn't matter, I hate Christmas anyhow - it just
       turns everything upside down!"
       Dr. Luccock paused and replied, "that is just what it was made for."


Christmas turns everything upside down!   On the surface of living, we are all aware of that reality as we decorate, shop, write cards, mail packages, shop some more, give and attend parties, cook and bake.  For most of us the holidays are about adding an absurd number of new and different tasks to our normal to-do lists and often the sheer amount of added activity is overwhelming: it turns our accustomed ways of living upside down.

As I put down the Advent book last evening with the little story I just shared, I was thinking about the original Christmas story and Dr. Luccock's words really hit home because everyone in the story had their life 'turned upside down.'
      Mary changed from a maiden, a 'good girl' from all accounts who was planning to be married, to a    
      pregnant woman who was not yet married.
      Joseph changed from a man planning a marriage to Mary and quite probably thinking of beginning "their"
      family, to a man wrestling with 'what really happened and what role am I to play?
      Elizabeth was 'past the time of bearing children' and so most likely was stunned by the idea that she would
      birth and raise a child in the second half of her life.
      Zechariah {whom we often forget about}, was married to Elizabeth and according to the story was a
      'good and upright man' who was struck mute by his disbelief that Elizabeth could indeed be pregnant and
      remained that way until he was willing to have faith in the truth of what was.
      Shepherds, whom I think of as the epitome of we ordinary folk in this story, were minding their sheep and
      their own business {thank you very much!} when they are told to leave their responsibilities and take
      tidings of joy to a poor family in a stable who had just birthed Jesus the Lord.
      And then there was the inn keeper, the one who said yes to their request for shelter even though his
      yes meant offering something that outwardly appeared poor and shabby

As I was pondering this last night with feet that throbbed because of the arthritis in my ankles which do not appreciate eight hours on concrete and a head that was very, very tired from having lived through my second - yes, that would be two! - corporate visits in a week, it felt very good to be reminded that the story we are remembering during this holiday season is a story of hospitality to the question 'how can this be?!?"

Reading last night I was reminded that this is the season where I am asked to take time - that is to be hospitable to - my own cries of 'how can this be?"  Last evening as I sat with my little tree glowing and thought about this story, it hit me that during the decades of my living, I have in fact played all of the parts in the drama of the original Christmas story.  I know the experience of being asked to receive a 'gift' from God that turned my idea of who I was upside down.  I have experienced the dilemma of 'what really happened and how am I supposed to respond' and then had my response turn my life upside down.  I also have 'birthed' new life when I thought I was finished and in fact have discovered that this second half of living is about birthing 'spirit babies' and that awareness turned my life upside down.  I know about leaving 'responsibilities' to carry a message that made no sense to my brain and yet my gut told me this was the right action and it turned my life upside down.  I know about having to offer a part of myself that appears poor and shabby and not as splendid as I would wish because that was all I had to offer at the time, and my yes turned my idea of who I was upside down.

And each and every time I was able to give my own 'yes' to playing one of the roles in this story, a part of myself cried out, "how can this be!"  What I also know is that my 'how can this be?' is no different than any of your own cries of confusion, for as I meditate on this story we celebrate each year, I believe it is given to us as a template: a guide or mold, of what our living is to be if we are willing: open and receptive, that is, hospitable to carrying God into the world.  As Dr. Luccock words remind us, the Christmas story tells us that living is not meant to be 'known' or 'understood' in the ways we humans who crave security and safety would like our living to be.

I believe the Christmas story reminds us that real living is about the creativity available to us when we are willing to be hospitable to the energy of our Creator who has apparently designed human beings to be the carriers of the energy of Creation into the world.  This is not an easy willingness.  I doubt it was easy for Mary to say yes to being the mother of Jesus, or for Joseph to redefine his role, or for Elizabeth and Zechariah to accept the changes to their life when they were in a time when life was supposed to get easier not more difficult or for an inn keeper to swallow their pride and offer a stable rather than a room or for shepherds who were defined in life by their simplicity of responsibility to leave their responsibility. Each person's  life and idea of who they were was turned upside down and redefined by hospitality to angels, a dream, the hand of God on their shoulder or a knock on the door.

Maybe what I am supposed to be aware of today as I head into my little store is not the expectations of corporate or the throbbing in my ankles but perhaps to entertain the idea that maybe one of my customers disguised as a person,  is actually an angel, or is someone in need of  the 'shelter' of a genuine smile and offer of help in choosing a book.  I think today I will live the Christmas story not as a retail manager but as someone who understands that Christmas is about having one's life turned upside down and that a simple smile can go a long way in easing the anxiety of our silent cry of 'how can this be.'