31 Days of Christmas – Day #4

If Only. . .

The entire Christmas story absolutely escaped George Albright. The whole “God-born-in-a-manger” thing was beyond him, or maybe just too simple for him to grasp. At least until last Christmas Eve when the snow began to fall.
He had just settled into his fireside chair and begun to read. There was a thumping sound on the window, and at first, he thought someone was throwing snowballs. He went to the door and looked into the yard where he found a small flock of birds huddled in the snow.
They had been caught in the storm and then desperately tried to find shelter by flying through his large living room window. George knew he couldn’t let those little creatures freeze, but how could he help them?
He thought, the barn, of course! The barn is where the children kept the pony. That would provide shelter. If only he could get the birds in there.
He opened the doors and turned on a light, but the birds didn’t move.
Maybe some food would entice them. He sprinkled some bread crumbs leading to the stable doors. Nothing.
He tried catching them and shooing them in. The birds went frantically everywhere except into the barn. They were afraid of him.
Frustrated, he thought, I want them to trust me. How can I convince them I only want to help?
But every move he made just tended to frighten them more. They would not follow or be pushed. If only I could be a bird myself and mingle with them and speak their language and show them the way to the barn, then they could see and understand.
Just then, the church bells began to chime . . . O Come All Ye Faithful. Listening to the music, George recalled the words to the tune and it was at that moment that the Good News pierced his heart and he finally understood the “God-born-in-a-manger” thing.
He knelt in the snow with a new and thankful belief.

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”(Philippians 2:5-7)