No Room

When you have something "special" you "make room" for it by creating a space to provide a place to display it. Something of great importance should never be hidden.

Each year when I ponder the story of the birth of Christ, I seem to focus on one aspect, the one that weighs most on my mind at the time. It would appear that every part of the story is important because it reveals a profound mystery. "No Room" has taken precedence lately. Those words stand apart, especially in light of today's understanding of Merry Christmas.

Was Jesus born away from the inn, done to emphasize His place of birth, creating a place of importance, in order to set Him apart from all others? Yet, birthed in a humble stable where animals dwelt, is not my idea of fit for a King. We participate along with the wise men who find Him, following elements in the sky. The two year journey, pinpointed their precise destination. We find an infant King, because there was "No Room?" Or, I wonder, do the words take on a new and hidden meaning for this age?

Ordinary people of that time, turned away this infant "King" Jesus, because they could not make room for Him. Sound familiar?

The fact is that Christians for thousands of years, have welcomed Him in their homes by displaying Nativity Scenes, recalling the "first Christmas." Homes do not have so much as a cross today, never mind the nativity scene. But, most of them have trees. Not "Christmas trees", but "Holiday trees". Christmas has been reduced to "toys" and "shopping until you drop". We refer to "the Holiday's" and there is "no room" for the Holy Christmas.

There is no room for "Christ," No room for the needy, No room for forgiveness, No room for compromise, No Room for Love. No Room for infants, the killing of many innocent babies in the womb. Two words, "No Room" take on a harsh tone, just like the madness of the "first Christmas, and the killing of the innocent." What kind of pitiful state are we in?

Is there room for faith in your life or is there "No Room?" "There is no longer any wiggle room for the Truth. Are you allowing other's to squeeze you from your space or is there room for your expression of the "real" Christmas, and "real" St. Nicholas, a "real" saint.

We are in the season of advent, that is: making preparation , "in waiting," for life, for birth. We expand our capacity for the living and giving and loving because we experience a "joy" for His coming. Keep the spirit alive by finding the way to "make room in the chambers of your heart," by clearing out the mess!

So ponder this: When Christ came, there was "No Room," for Him then, and there is sadly "No Room" for Him now.

If you truly want to be happy this Christmas, you need to lead someone to the manager. Someone who has lost their way, because they can't find Him hidden in a cave as there was "No Room" in the Inn. Your heart will be filled with the "Joy" that will cause you to say, "Merry Christmas," an all too common word that seems to be forgotten, just like the Spirit of Christmas.