Please enjoy the The Christmas Present. Check out other comics on the fearoftheLordcomics.com website, Repentance, The Refining Fire, The NROP Glasses, The Rise of Nothing as well as, Man Vs God: Who Made Who?
As Christmas approaches, we feel joy in the season. But along with that joy comes the uneasiness and angst of preparing for this momentous day. How will this Christmas measure up in comparison to others? For many of us, there is the subconscious notion that at Christmas we may possibly step our foot into heaven, There is the premonition of judgement - the powers-that-be are going to "find out whose naughty or nice", and the wheat will be separated from the chaff. Often we may find ourselves doing a mental inventory at quiet moments before the Christmas tree (if we ever have quiet moments).
"At the touch of love, every man becomes a poet" opined Plato, the philosopher. Myself and my family operate in a ADHD zone of chaos, and we tend to become philosophers rather than poets. Christmas sneaks up on us, and we haven't sent out Christmas cards, our gift giving and friend visiting are nearly nonexistent, and our Christmas cookie output is abysmal. We envy those more organized families who will surely capture the Christmas spirit much more capably than we will. Monarchs, Popes, Presidents, and bloggers will send out there Christmas messages. We know we won't measure up to these idealized standard. We ask ourselves, "Why not give up? Why don't we just become Grinches and steal past Christmas to escape into Boxing Day?
On the day after Christmas, also known as Boxing Day, we celebrate the death of the first martyr Saint Stephen. At first glance, St. Steven's story is simply one more brutal death in the long history of martyrdom - one more brave, holy, or perhaps foolish man stoned to death for his beliefs. This one feast appears incongruous in comparison to the birth of the Christ Child. But there is a poetic connection; the entry of a human being into heaven and God touching down to earth so close in time. We don't see the underpinning reality when one undergoes a death in Christ. When we read accounts of martyrs, we often see them enduring hell or high water in a tough, Chuck Norris kind of way. When Saint Lawrence tells those roasting him to death of the gridiron, "Turn me over, I'm done on this side", we see that as stoicism on steroids, a Christian superman who laughs with scorn at those who foolishly try and break his spirit. We feel it is something far beyond our powers. And yes, it is beyond our powers. We may be too weak for martyrdom; but we forget that God's "power is made perfect in weakness." For many, martyrdom saw the manifestation of a fear-dispelling spirit of Christmas. The Marxist Mexican government in 1927, filmed the execution of the Jesuit priest, Miguel Pro, for propaganda purposes. They were hoping to impress the populace of that Christianity deals in false hopes and pie-in-the-sky fantasies. However, the footage of the death march and execution had a very different message. There was joy in Father Pro's face, demeanor, and last words: "Vivo Christo Rei." Soon the mere possession of the government made propaganda film was a very serious offense. They had unwittingly captured a joyful reality, and made naked the empty secular fantasy. I will leave you with an enduring quote from one of history's many martyrs, Pionus of Smyrna. The historian Warren Carrol writes this account of Pionus: "The elder Pionus of the church of Smyrna, a little man named Asclepiades, and an escaped slave-girl named stood against the tide...To the warden of the pagan temple of Smyrna Pionus declared: 'We do not worship your gods, and we do not bow down to the golden image. Pagan friends in the listening crowd urged Pionus to save his life. He replied: "It is good to live, but that life for which we yearn is better. And good it is to see the light [of day], but to see the true light is better. And all these things are good: but the reason we flee from them is not that we long for death, or hate God's words, but because of the surpassing greatness of other things.' " (page 492 in the Founding of Christendom)
Best wishes as you prepare for this Christmas as well as the Christmas that will never end.
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