Christmas Eve

It is good to remember I believe that Mary didn't realize it was "Christmas Eve". Mary knew only birth. Did the stable even register except for a place finally to lie down? Was Joseph wise enough to find the mid-wife? Or did he, bless him, have to help with the delivery himself? We have so colored and painted and rarified this night that we forget that when new life comes into the world, it is a messy business. Birthing mothers know only the present moment, every single push, every breath, every pain and finally the glorious relief of the first cry. There is no sense of history, of changing the world. That comes later after the shepherds and the kings have departed, after the angel choirs have ended their song and the night sky is normal again with no extraordinary star. Then the mother looks at this tiny new human she holds in her arms and wonders if the Promise just Might Be True. It is the wonder of every mother of all times ~ and may that wonder never cease. ~ blessings