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A
Compromised Christmas
Fr.
George Smiga
December
25, 2006
Luke
2:1-14
I
know that you have all heard of a white Christmas and that
you know about a Christmas that takes place on a silent night.
But have you ever heard of a compromised Christmas? A compromised
Christmas is not as attractive or poetic as a silent or a
white one, but I assure you that it is ever more valuable
and certainly more original. It is highly doubtful that the
first Christmas was white. It simply does not snow in Bethlehem
, or at least not to the degree of accumulation we see on
most Christmas cards. And as for being silent, where do you
think the stable was in which Christ was born? It was not
located out in some idyllic pasture. It was connected to the
inn where travelers could put up their animals. And the inns
were located in the most crowded and hectic parts of the city.
Through the feeble walls of that stable where Mary and Joseph
stayed, they could hear the pushing, shouting and perhaps
fighting of many of other visitors like themselves looking
for a place to stay. So much for a silent night!
So
the first Christmas was not white or silent. But it was compromised,
that we know for sure. That first Christmas was not the Christmas
that Mary or Joseph would have chosen. They wanted a Christmas
that was more familiar, more safe, more clean. From the time
that they began to adjust to the unexpected news of Mary's
pregnancy—and believe me that was quite an adjustment—Mary
and Joseph were planning to give birth to their child in their
own home surrounded by family and friends. They had no desire
to make a long and dangerous journey across the country into
a city filled with strangers and have their child born in
a decrepit barn filled with animals. Mary and Joseph would
have chosen none of those things.
But
that is the way Christmas happened. By all accounts it would
have been major disaster had not Mary and Joseph been willing
to compromise, to let go of what they wanted and instead receive
the good things that they were given. And there were good
things: the baby was healthy, the mother was safe, they did
find a place of shelter and even some clean hay, and there
were kindly strangers coming to give support and to offer
gifts. All good things, but good things that Mary and Joseph
would never have been able to enjoy them, if they were unwilling
to compromise, if they insisted on focusing on the things
that did not happen rather than the things that did.
The
Christmas story is a story of compromise and its value is
not to simply give us information about what happened 2000
years ago but rather to point to a way we are called to live.
This story tells us that the way to happiness is the art of
compromise. This is a difficult lesson for us as Americans
because we live in a consumer culture in which we expect to
have what we want and to have it now. Compromise is seen as
a failure, not as an opportunity. When we need to compromise,
we feel that we are cheated because we cannot have what we
want. And feeling cheated robs us of the happiness of living.
I
am sure all of you here have already told Santa what you want
for Christmas: a new X-Box, designer jeans, maybe a pony.
But what would happen Christmas morning if the gift you wanted
was not there and something else was there instead. Could
you compromise? Could you find the goodness in the gift that
was given or would you make yourself miserable by regretting
the gift which could not be yours. There are people here today
who want their spouse to be different: more patient, more
understanding, more organized, more flexible. But you have
lived with your spouse for a while and you know little is
going to change. Are you able to compromise, to see the good
that is in your spouse, a good that could bring you joy and
happiness, or will you choose to live in the resentment that
the person you married is not the person you want him or her
to be?
There
many things that none of us want to deal with at Christmas.
We do not want to struggle with poor health, shaky finances,
or a loss which comes from divorce or death. But there are
people here with those realities right in the center of their
lives. Can you compromise? Can you choose to find the good
that is still in your life, the people who love you, the opportunities
that are still yours, or will you insist that there can be
no joy until things change, until things return to the way
they once were?
The
way to happiness is the art of compromise. For people of faith
that art takes on an ever deeper dimension, because we believe
that God is present in our life. We believe that when God
takes one gift away, God gives another. It may not be the
gift we want, but it is a real gift nonetheless. In faith
we believe that the gift which is given has enough life, enough
strength to bring us happiness. So if you look at your life
this Christmas and you find issues you do not want to have,
do not be afraid to compromise. Do not insist on focusing
on the things that you do not have. Try to find the goodness
in the things you do have. In faith believe that such goodness
can lead you to life.
The
first Christmas was neither white nor silent. It was a compromise
that worked, because Mary and Joseph let go of the kind of
birth that they wanted and accepted the child that they were
given. Accepting that child was enough, more than enough.
What they received was not only a son but the Savior of the
World. The compromise which Mary and Joseph were willing to
make brought them joy, the joy of the son who was given, a
joy greater than anything they could have imagined. If we
are willing to compromise, we can find that joy too.
Merry
Christmas
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