Modern Religious Experience: Reflection #9: The Incarnation of God: "After viewing 'The Nativity Story', analyzing your chosen Christmas carol, and reading Philippians 2:1-7, reflect on the meaning of Christma..."
When any human being thinks about being good, they think of many things. It is virtually impossible for any human to keep all of these "holy" attributes in check all of the time. We tend to focus on just one, like with a New Year's resolution, for example. The most mind boggling thing about Jesus in my opinion is how he has all of those perfect personality traits, and keeping all of them at the utmost level of holiness doesn't even faze him. In the carol "Silent Night", the first verse says that the night is silent, but also that "all is calm" and "all is bright". Babies are meant to cry. Birthing a baby is no quiet endeavor, either. But the fact that this night of the Savior's birth is so chill and so quiet says something about the infant in question. Maybe it doesn't occur to him to whine and want and pine after things. Or perhaps he simply understands that crying is futile and the mother will take care of him. In the end of this verse, it says that the baby will "sleep in heavenly peace", showing that this baby isn't miraculous on his own. A much bigger thing is cradling the baby. A thing that would send an incarnate version of himself as a child, to show that he is there for the long run, and will endure life as any other human might (if not worse). A thing that makes any day worth celebrating. God.
