A Christmas of Suffering
Merry Christmas Eve to everybody, and a Merry Christmas tomorrow.
This evening, approx. 2,000 years ago, a child was born that would change the world forever. Jesus of Nazareth was a poor carpenter in a conquered land, ruled by the mightiest empire in human history. Not so mighty, though, that it was capable of resisting His will. Three centuries later, at the Battle of Milvian Bridge, Constantine The Great, the man who would become Emperor of Rome, first became a Christian.
Since that time, armies have marched, cities have been built, and kingdoms toppled in His name. Some of history's greatest goods and most nightmarish evils have been performed by those who did so, or claimed to do so, out of loyalty to, and love of, Him.
In the land of his birth today, The people into whom he was born are no longer conquered, but their right to exist continues to be a constant struggle. Their enemies are no less vast now than they were then. God is many things, but an undemanding master is not one of them. This is illustrated in His chosen people, who are still singled out for greater tribulations and struggles than nearly any other nation on Earth. Every Christian should defend Israel, for its existence is divinely ordained. Jesus Christ, the very physical manifestation of God-made-Man, is a Son of Israel, of the House of David. The enemies of Israel are the enemies of Christ.
But Israel is far from the only place in which a little well-time divine intervention is in order. Civil war rages in Iraq, and threatens to break out across the Middle East. In Cuba and North Korea, we are constantly reminded that communism, that greatest and most nightmarish legacy of atheism, is still reaching out, even from the grave, to crush the innocent. Just today, on the eve of the birth of the Prince of Peace, Orthodox Christian Ethiopia and now Islamist Somalia have marched to war against one another. On the home-front, New Orleans still lies in ruin, a dark monument to the failure of government to protect us. A harsh recession in the near future threatens to give the rest of the nation a far less terrible, but still bitter, reminder of the scarcity that prevails in the non-capitalist world. Even now, madmen like Kim Jong-Il and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have acquired, or threaten to acquire, nuclear weapons.
In bethlehem, the very village of Christ's birth, anti-Christian discrimination has reached staggering heights in the wake of the Hamas takeover, and those members of the Church who have not already fled have poor prospects for the future.
The weeks and months ahead will be dark ones. We will need to remember that God looks down on us, and that providence has a broader plan in mind, as Mary did when she watched her son die on the cross.
For now, Merry Christmas. Peace on Earth, and Good Will towards Men.
This evening, approx. 2,000 years ago, a child was born that would change the world forever. Jesus of Nazareth was a poor carpenter in a conquered land, ruled by the mightiest empire in human history. Not so mighty, though, that it was capable of resisting His will. Three centuries later, at the Battle of Milvian Bridge, Constantine The Great, the man who would become Emperor of Rome, first became a Christian.
Since that time, armies have marched, cities have been built, and kingdoms toppled in His name. Some of history's greatest goods and most nightmarish evils have been performed by those who did so, or claimed to do so, out of loyalty to, and love of, Him.
In the land of his birth today, The people into whom he was born are no longer conquered, but their right to exist continues to be a constant struggle. Their enemies are no less vast now than they were then. God is many things, but an undemanding master is not one of them. This is illustrated in His chosen people, who are still singled out for greater tribulations and struggles than nearly any other nation on Earth. Every Christian should defend Israel, for its existence is divinely ordained. Jesus Christ, the very physical manifestation of God-made-Man, is a Son of Israel, of the House of David. The enemies of Israel are the enemies of Christ.
But Israel is far from the only place in which a little well-time divine intervention is in order. Civil war rages in Iraq, and threatens to break out across the Middle East. In Cuba and North Korea, we are constantly reminded that communism, that greatest and most nightmarish legacy of atheism, is still reaching out, even from the grave, to crush the innocent. Just today, on the eve of the birth of the Prince of Peace, Orthodox Christian Ethiopia and now Islamist Somalia have marched to war against one another. On the home-front, New Orleans still lies in ruin, a dark monument to the failure of government to protect us. A harsh recession in the near future threatens to give the rest of the nation a far less terrible, but still bitter, reminder of the scarcity that prevails in the non-capitalist world. Even now, madmen like Kim Jong-Il and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have acquired, or threaten to acquire, nuclear weapons.
In bethlehem, the very village of Christ's birth, anti-Christian discrimination has reached staggering heights in the wake of the Hamas takeover, and those members of the Church who have not already fled have poor prospects for the future.
The weeks and months ahead will be dark ones. We will need to remember that God looks down on us, and that providence has a broader plan in mind, as Mary did when she watched her son die on the cross.
For now, Merry Christmas. Peace on Earth, and Good Will towards Men.
posted by Ben-T | 7:59 PM
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