On Becoming a Slug or a Crab

Reflecting on Christmas Day: Two Days Before Christmas (Year C)

Scripture

Psalter: Luke 1:46b-55

Old Testament: Micah 4:6-8

Epistle: 2 Peter 1:16-21

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Prayer

Holy God, mighty and immortal, you are beyond our knowing, yet we see your glory in the face of Jesus Christ, whose compassion illumines the world. Transform us into the likeness of the love of Christ, who renewed our humanity so that we may share in his divinity, the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who live and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Reflection

“Did you ever think, when you were a child, what fun it would be if your toys could come to life? Well suppose you could really have brought them to life? Imagine turning a tin soldier into a real little man. It would have involved turning the tin into flesh. And suppose the tin soldier did not like it. He is not interested in flesh: all he sees is that the tin is being spoilt. He thinks you are killing him. He will do everything he can to prevent you. He will not be made into a man if he can help it.”

“What would you have done about that tin soldier I do not know. But what God did about us was this. The Second Person in God, the Son, became human Himself: was born into the world as an actual man—a real man of particular height, with hair of a particular colour, speaking a particular language, weighing so many stone. The Eternal Being, who knows everything and who created the whole universe, became not only a man but (before that) a baby, and before that a foetus inside a Woman’s body. If you want to get the hang of it, think how you would like to become a slug or a crab.”—C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity