It's something grandiose that often inspires hope: a Christmas bonus, a pay raise, a great deal on a new vehicle, a dream home or your favorite team winning the Super Bowl. These more significant events in our lives renew our energy and give us some sense of expectation about the future. Rarely do we see little things as sources of hope.
I wonder if we were there witnessing this seemingly mundane event unfold, would that have inspired hope? There was nothing attractive about it; nothing particularly captivating. We probably would have written it off as common and hardly noteworthy. What is the event I speak of? The birth of Jesus. A baby wrapped in crudely-fashioned cloths, lying in a cow's feeding trough under the thatched roof of a stable is not alluring. It's forgettable. But without it, where would we be? A truly life-giving hope arose in the most unlikely of places.
I wonder if we were there witnessing this seemingly mundane event unfold, would that have inspired hope? There was nothing attractive about it; nothing particularly captivating. We probably would have written it off as common and hardly noteworthy. What is the event I speak of? The birth of Jesus. A baby wrapped in crudely-fashioned cloths, lying in a cow's feeding trough under the thatched roof of a stable is not alluring. It's forgettable. But without it, where would we be? A truly life-giving hope arose in the most unlikely of places.
- Brian Dainsberg (Rev. Dainsberg is a pastor at Appleton Alliance Church, Appleton WI)
