St. Francis of Assisi found the perfect way to dramatize the Christmas Story—the story of how the Light overcame the Darkness by becoming flesh and dwelling among us. (John 1:5,14). He gave us the Nativity Scene.

His Vision of the Nativity is simple. A tiny baby. A loving mother. A faithful husband. A homeless family. A humble stable. Lowly shepherds. Lordly kings. Bleating sheep. Singing angels.

Yet his Vision of the Nativity is profound. God is with us, even when we are poor and homeless, even when we find ourselves in “humbling places.” The lowliest family is blessed. Poor people worship God. Rich people worship God. Nature worships God. Heaven worships God.

His Vision of the Nativity is profoundly simple.

Yet, his Vision of the Nativity gives Joy and Peace to all Humanity in the Way of Jesus.

His Vision of the Nativity is not a perfect representation of historical facts. For example, the Magi were not there on the night Jesus was born. (Matthew 2:1-2).

Yet his Vision of the Nativity is a perfect representation of spiritual realities.

For example, meditate upon the Baby Jesus.

In my books about the life of Jesus, I describe five word pictures that teach us more about who Jesus is, what God is like, and how we should live than volumes of theological speculations or hundreds of pages of my writings: being best friends who bless children, welcome sinners, weep together, wash each other’s feet, and laugh together.

Now I’ve found a sixth word picture that teaches more about who Jesus is, what God is like, and how we should live than volumes of theological speculations or hundreds of pages of my writings: the Baby Jesus.

It’s so easy to love this one newborn baby with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my strength. And so, it makes it easier for us to grasp what it means to love the one LORD our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Matthew 22:36-38).

It’s so easy for me to have nothing else more important in my life than that newborn baby.  And so, it makes it easier for us to grasp what it means for us to have nothing more important in our lives than loving the one LORD our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength (Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 5:7 & 6:4-5; Matthew 6:24; 22:36-40).

It’s so easy for me to love that newborn baby as much as I love myself—or even more than I love myself! And so, it makes it easier for us to grasp what it means for us to love others as much as we love ourselves—to love others so much that we do to them what we want done to us. (Matthew 7:12; 22:36-40; Leviticus 19:18).

It’s so easy for me to love that newborn baby even before it first loves me. And so, it makes it easier for us to grasp how God could love us before we first loved him. (1 John 4:19).

It’s hard for me to love that newborn baby so much that I would voluntarily die to save him or her. (Matthew 26:36-44; Mark 14:32-41; Luke 22:39-46). Yet, I would die to give that newborn baby a chance to have a life that he or she may enjoy to the full. And so, it makes it easier for us to grasp how Jesus could love us so much that he died to save us—to give us a chance to have lives that we may enjoy to the full. (John 10:10-11).

What makes us merry at Christmas?

Realizing that the Light overcame the Darkness by becoming the Baby Jesus.

Realizing that we can overcome the Darkness with the Light of our good deeds, by loving the LORD our God—and by loving each other—with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength.

Realizing that Jesus loved us so much that he died to save us, giving us a chance to enjoy our lives to the full, if we follow the Way of Jesus by giving Joy and Peace to all Humanity.

Merry Christmas!

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To read more about St. Francis of Assisi, please read my blogs: “St. Francis of Assisi Made the Way of Jesus Great Again”, ”The Nativity Scene: Baby Jesus”, “The Nativity Scene: Mary”, “The Nativity Scene: Joseph”, “The Nativity Scene: The Homeless Family”, “The Nativity Scene: The Humble Stable”, “The Nativity Scene: The Shepherds”, “The Nativity Scene: The Magi”, “The Nativity Scene: The Sheep”, and “The Nativity Scene: The Angels”; and by reading the chapter “Relying on the Lunar Module” in my book Visions of the Church (published with my book Visions of America), at pages 181-185. The chapter about St. Francis of Assisi refers to the Lunar Module because I use the flawed—yet triumphant—flight of Apollo 13 as my narrative thread to give an overview of 2,000 years of Church history in only 60 pages!

To read more about the word pictures that describe Jesus, please read my books Hoping in the LORD, at pages 177-182,199-202,209-213,239-249 and Lighting the World, at pages 167-186.

To read more about the Nativity, please read my book Hoping in the LORD, at pages 12-46.

To learn how the New Testament Church lit the world—not by might nor by power—but by God’s Spirit (Matthew 5:14,16; Zechariah 4:6), please read my book Lighting the World.