Taunting With Baby Jesus

For whatever reason, this year, people seemed very eager to be through with Christmas.

In fact, in our neighborhood, several houses had removed their decorations on the 26^th.

I’m not sure why it was. 

Maybe it’s because of the unusually warm weather we’re having here in Middle Tennessee where even the trees are being lulled into budding by temperatures in the mid-sixties. 

Or maybe they’re preparing even earlier, this year, for St. Eastentine Fool’s of July.

Regardless, this year, I kinda felt that way too. 

And so the day after New Year’s Laura and I began to put Christmas decorations away.

As I was packing up ornaments, I reached into the tree and pulled out a present that had been stuck into its boughs. 

It was a craft that Elijah had made at church. 

Inside the little, unassuming brown box was yellow, yarn “straw”, a paper Baby Jesus (clearly reflecting the diversity of His creation by donning purple and orange crayon colored skin), and a paper angel in the lid. 

Elijah, who sees EVERYTHING, cried out, “Baby Jesus!!  I want Him!”

So, I handed the present to him.

“I love baby Jesus,” he said, (sounding more like he said, “I lub baby Jeebus”) and then went to show Brehm.  Who turned, Incredible Hulk like, into the green-eyed monster. 

BREHM: “I want Baby Jesus!” 

ELIJAH: “No! MY Baby Jesus.” 

BREHM: “But I want him!!”

ELIJAH (holding the present out to Alanna): “You want him?”

ALANNA: “yes.”

ELIJAH: “no!”

And then he ran around the living room taunting his older brother and little sister with The Baby Jesus. 

Alanna got so frustrated that she would burst into tears every time she saw the box.

Despite the growing lists posted in cyberspace containing all the things that make Baby Jesus cry, apparently, Baby Jesus makes my daughter cry.  Great!  Just great.

Finally, I shouted, “ENOUGH!” and took the present from Elijah and packed it away to wait, faithfully, with the rest of the decorations, until next year. 

And so I, the guy who had had his mind completely blown by the incarnation this Advent, took this symbol of God’s Christmas gift and put it, unceremoniously, in a blue Rubbermaid tub. 

Then I paused. 

In my hurry to "get on with things", I realized that I didn’t want to put the baby Jesus away for another year. 

I didn’t want to have unpacked him this December, gawked at him for a month, and then packed him away again. 

I didn’t want to move on to the crucified and risen Jesus of Easter while being forgetful of the baby in a manger.

In the same way that Christmas doesn’t make sense with out The Cross, Easter doesn’t make sense without the incarnation.

So, today I dug that present out of the blue tub before it got lost in that sea of forgetfulness called “the attic”. 

I’m thinking of putting it somewhere really annoying. 

Like in the cup holder of my car or on the floor by my bed. 

Anywhere that I will continually trip and stumble over it so I will constantly be reminded of God’s mind bending, miraculous, and priceless gift.

For more than one month of the year.