December, 1954
Bridgeport
Christian, in Pilgrim’s Progress, anxious to know the way, consulted Evangelist. “Do you see yonder wicket gate?” asked Evangelist.
Christian strained his eyes to look but was forced to reply, “No, I see nothing.”
“Do you see yonder shining light?” Christian answered, “Yes, I think I do.”
“Then,” said Evangelist, “keep the light in your eye and go directly up thereto – so shalt thou see the gate.”
Most religious liberals understand the cultural universality of the Christmas story; its kinship to and blending of the folk-strains of many religions and tribal memories.
Most religious liberals do not believe that Jesus was God. They believe that a man, Joseph, was Jesus’ father legally, spiritually and biologically.
Despite our rejection of the belief that God came to earth in some special way in the baby Jesus, we can experience and share values of thrilling emotional intensity and demanding ethical drive in the Christmas story.
In his poem, “Nightmare for Future Reference,” Stephen Vincent Benet touches us with ultimate horror when, as a result of the third world war with its smashed cities and pulverized people, the birth rate drops to zero, there are no more babies. “They aren’t being born.”
The candles of Christmas can be festival lights of gladness when we recognize the wonder of life’s beginnings. The story of the baby Jesus batters our hearts. His story is the story of all babies. The soft skin, flower hands, all the ineffable beauty of cradle innocence, make us aware of wonders and creative mystery beyond the power of words to express . Our emotions are painfully sensitive to glorious hopes and shadowy fears.
Then, too, whatever else God may or may not be, he must be at least incarnate in the spirit of love. Babies are born in stables, caves, ranch-houses, and mansions. The universal message of Christmas is that everyone shares in the mystery and power of life and love. In the warmth of Christmas happiness we discover anew that the human family is one. In the sobbing happiness born of creche, balsam scent, carols, candles, and children’s laughter we affirm again that “peace on earth, goodwill to men” is not sentimental nonsense, but the goal of all peoples; and we affirm that we can compress all our worthwhile dreams in a baby’s cradle and illumine them in his smile.
Rev. Carl J. Westman
First Universalist Church
Bridgeport, Connecticut
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