endless creativity

December 25 was not, by any account, the day Jesus was born. In fact, it was a popular date for pagan religions to celebrate the birth of the sun, S-U-N. Yet, since the late 6th or early 7th century- history is foggy on the matter- the Christian church has observed Advent, marking the beginning of the church calendar and establishing a season of anticipation. 

In December, days are short and light is scarce. Advent shifts the spiritual focus from this darkness to the light of Christ's humble birth. In a barn. To an unmarried teen. 

My favorite thing I've read through all the holiday hubbub this year commented on this very truth: We, each of us, bear witness to the endless creativity of a God who was entrusted to the womb of a woman (by Lisa-Jo Baker, written for She Reads Truth).

To some, the Biblical creation story sets up a paradigm in which women are the first fallen- the instigators of the fall- and this, among other things, is used to define us as necessarily submissive members of humanity. We are weak, prone to confusion and delusion. We ought not be leaders or exhibit strength. That is not what we are meant for.

But then, from his very birth, Christ throws these patriarchal assumptions aside- flips them like tables. Because if you buy into this birth story you buy into the concept of Christ, creator and savior, grown, carried and born by a woman. Labored into this world through the strength of a woman. Without an epidural. No doula in sight. 

From Christ's very birth he began to upend the scriptural and cultural perspective of everything- women, power, community. Value and identity. Truth and light.

Thank God.