A Personal Credo at Christmastime

I believe in the one who was wrapped in rags and laid in a manger.  Because of him,  I believe that God is love and there is real hope for this world.  I believe that the manger foretells the sort of life he was to live--pressed out of the places you might expect to find one who reigns ("no room") and welcomed in the places frequented by the poor, the blind, the crippled and the lame.  I believe that his life was an unbroken narrative of protest and praise:  protest against every power, attitude, spirit, and act that diminishes the beauty of human beings; and praise because of the power of God which he himself embodied and that is at work in the world to bring renewal and healing.  I believe that the manger foretells the cross.  These two are bookends around his life, one a symbol of his humble birth, the other a reminder of his lowly death.  I believe that all that is worst about our world is disclosed by that cross: it is nothing less than the revelation of our world's violent resistance to justice, mercy and love.  And I believe that what is best in our world is revealed by that cross: the crucified one transforms hatred into love, judgment into grace, despair into hope.  On one side of the cross we hear the worst: "Crucify him!" and on the other side of the cross we hear the best, "Father, forgive them..."  I believe that today all humans must decide on which side of that cross they will stand.  Because of the manger and the cross, those two bookends of the life, I believe what John wrote, "For God so loved the world..."   I believe that death could not hold him, that the power of God which he made known in humble love is the power that holds the future.  I believe that the power of resurrection is at work in our world today, bringing renewal and hope.  I believe that there is a community of believers, men, women and children, in whom his Spirit dwells and who are the 'firstfruits' of God's renewal work--and that they must let their lights shine, no matter how dark the day!   And I believe that one day, one beautiful day, the last sigh of sorrow will have been uttered,the last war will have been fought, the last tear will have been cried, and the kind of love that his whole life revealed will bind us together.  Shalom.  I believe in the one who was wrapped in rags and laid in a manger.  Because of him,  I believe that God is love and there is real hope for this world.