The greatest event of all time went unnoticed except for a few witnesses.

Jesus was born to Mary and Joseph. They called him Emmanuel (God with us). He came to save all of us from our sins.

There was plenty of sins from which to save us, too. There was adultery, murder, hatred, bigotry, injustice, uncaring, self-centeredness, self-indulgence, hypocrisy, and the disregard for human life. The world back then was not too different from the world today. All those things are still going on.

Even though everything changed that night, nothing changed.

Our hope, our promise, our dream was born that night and just outside of that holy gathering, it was business as usual. All of the problems people went to bed with that night were there in the morning.

Still, everything changed.

A baby was born and the world would never be the same, again.

Evil, injustice, cruelty, poverty, war, famine, and other ills of this world do not get the final say. The final chapters of our lives are not written in despair, but with hope.

Soon enough the people on the outside were going to be on the inside. Those that society and religion had excluded would be included. The least, last, weak, and foolish would befuddle and shame the most, first, strong, and wise. Nothing would ever be the same even though everything seemed like it.

Those that wield power and control over our lives no longer have the final say. Their days were numbered back then and still are today.

Hope was born and nothing would remain the same.

This Christmas, I’m going to consider the babe in a manger and let that miraculous birth be the filter through which I look at all of my life and the life around me. I will not let the events around me be the filter through which I look at Jesus the Christ.

Everything changed that night…even though it didn’t look like it did.

Merry Christmas!!