I remember vividly those first moments I spent holding each of my children after they were born. My wife gave birth to all three of our kids by caesarean, so there was always about an hour after my wife had been stitched up and was in recovery, where I would be waiting & holding our new little bub. On each occasion, it was a time of being overwhelmed by the experience.
And I would mostly be unable to speak. I would teeter on the brink of laughter and of crying. And every time I looked up at any of my family on the other side of the glass – I was told – I was simply beaming from the experience of holding such a perfect & serene little one.
Do you think in those moments I was trying to rationally work out what was happening to me ? – No ! I was simply & profoundly overwhelmed with the wonder of this first and long awaited meeting with this captivating little one.
When I reflect back, there was definitely something vulnerable & unguarded about me in those moments. In my humility, I opened myself up to something mostly beyond words, the experience of which I can only describe as pure & sacred.
Suddenly, the idea of Almighty God poured out into the package of the Babe born in Bethlehem becomes comprehensible and totally accessible.
It reminds me of that episode in Genesis where Jacob is out in the desert. He has just been sent away by his father Isaac – for stealing the birthright of his older brother Esau. It is night and he falls asleep on the hard ground using a stone as his pillow.
And Jacob has this amazing dream. You can imagine the vividness of this dream because Jacob is tossing and turning – using a stone as his pillow. In this dream, Jacob sees a ladder reaching from the ground all the way up to heaven with angels ascending and descending. And the Lord God stands beside Jacob and says,
“I shall make the number of your offspring like the very dust of the earth… know that I am with you and will keep you where ever you go… for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you…” Then Jacob wakes up from his sleep – feeling overwhelmed and afraid. He says, “Surely the LORD is in this place and I did not know it… how awesome is this place. This is none other than the house of God and this is the gate of heaven.”
When we allow ourselves to be pierced and disarmed by the babe of Bethlehem – awe and wonder are our first and most appropriate response. This is none other than the house of God and this is the gate of heaven…
