The laboring woman gave one
final push and the baby made a grand entrance, announcing his evening arrival
with a loud and lusty first cry.
He was checked quickly by the doctor and nurses even though he appeared
to be perfect, then was wiped clean, wrapped in a soft blue blanket, and placed
into his mother’s waiting arms.
His father had been attentive throughout the pregnancy, looking after
his wife and anticipating with her the arrival of their first baby. Parenthood for them had already held
more than a few setbacks and complications. Now he was one proud and grateful daddy, amazed at the sight
and size of his tiny new son.
The father moved to the head
of the delivery table and began to wheel his wife and son into the corridor, but
instead of taking the expected right turn toward the recovery room, he
proceeded through the hospital hallways straight toward the infectious disease
ward, and once there, moved from bed to bed, placing his tiny son into the arms
of each person there. The startled
patients were not used to having visitors in this sparse and depressing
place. It wasn’t safe here.
No one could have anticipated
this absurd scene, yet it really shouldn’t strike us as odd or unfamiliar. After all, it’s precisely the story we
celebrate every Christmas. It was
that amazing night when God the Father sent His Son here to planet earth, where
there was not even one person who
could be considered “well” in His eyes.
All of us were deathly ill, trying to fight off with fleshly knowledge
and sheer determination what we were not equipped to conquer. We had already been given the news and
the report was not good.
“It’s terminal,” they’d told us as gently as possible. We knew we were dying before they said
the words. We could feel it. And then the Father brings His tiny Son
here, right into the thick of the mess and says to each of us “Would you like
to hold the baby?” In our arms now
was the miracle cure we were afraid would not come in time. But He has come. It
is very good news.
Anita Hickinbotham©2008
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