Herb’s Blog, Herbdate 22575 – 888
Here’s the haps:
We have two artificial Christmas trees, one is very large and stored in three large plastic totes and the other claims to be six feet tall but it’s shorter than me and I’m only 5′ 7″ or 5′ 8″. The advantage is that the scrawny one is significantly lighter and easier to get down from the attic and easier and quicker to assemble. We are trying to be more festive and upbeat this year because it was last year in December that Daughter TNT received her diagnosis of Primary Progressive MS and was in physical therapy rehab until the evening of December 24th. Since she found the neurologist last year who comes with a high reputation and who worked with her and took her seriously and discovered the severity of her disease she has been having a better time of it than she had been. Last year was also the year Mrs. Herb and I were hit by a semi-truck while driving our little PT Cruiser. The issues from both of those along with many others are better this year. Not perfect and not done with, but better. Last year was also the first Christmas without Grandma Pike.
This year we still need to take things easy like we did for Givethanksing day but we’re working on it and after last year anything will likely be better. Anyway, I was sitting and listening to Christmas music. I have a wide and varied taste and enjoy the secular songs along with a couple of novelty songs just as much as the real songs about Christmas. My tastes don’t always sit well with everyone and I try to be sensitive to that. I don’t go out of my way to offend someone but it does happen occasionally. I am probably the way I am about Christmas and other holidays because I grew up in a religion (Jehovah’s Witnesses) that did NOT acknowledge that Jesus Christ was Jehovah God come in the flesh and we never celebrated Christmas (or most other holidays, including birthdays) in any way.
That has nothing to do with my simple question, really, except to partly explain why one very obvious choice of a Christmas carol of mine is Hark the Herald Angels Sing. I was listening to the words:
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled.”
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies,
With th’angelic host proclaim:
“Christ is born in Bethlehem.”
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”
Christ by highest heav’n adored,
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come,
Offspring of a Virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,
Hail the incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man with man to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”
Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Ris’n with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”
Well, when I got to the part where he says, “veiled in flesh the Godhead see/Hail the incarnate Deity” I got to thinking. Jesus was unique in that he was both 100% God and 100% man at any given moment. We see him fatigued and sleeping in the boat only to be woken up and telling the wind and waves to be still and give Him some peace. There is almost nothing in the Scriptures about Jesus’ boyhood and young adulthood except the one incident where he was obedient to his mother and Joseph. Even though He never sinned he still had to be brought up. He had to be raised and taught about things. Just because you have to be corrected or taught something doesn’t automatically make it a sin it just means you needed to be taught about that. He experienced everything in life that we have but He didn’t sin as a result of being tempted.
These thoughts led me to my Theilogical question: Did a youthful Jesus run outside to play with His friends, and did His mother ever yell after Him, “Jesus! Close the door! Were you born in a barn?”
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