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The Geese
There was once a man who didn't believe
in the incarnation or the spiritual meaning
of Christmas, and was sceptical about God.
He and his family lived in a farming community.
His wife was a devout believer and diligently
raised her children in her faith.
He sometimes gave her a hard time about her faith
and mocked her religious observance of Christmas.
One snowy Christmas eve she was taking the kids to
the Christmas Eve service at church. She pleaded with
him to come, but he firmly refused.
He ridiculed the idea of the incarnation of
Christ and dismissed it as nonsense.
"Why would God lower himself and
become a human like us?!
It's such a ridiculous story!" he said.
So she and the children left for church
while he stayed home.
After they left, the winds grew stronger
and the snow turned into a blizzard.
As he looked out the window, all he saw
was a blinding snow storm. He sat
down to relax before the fire for the evening.
Then he heard a loud thump, something
hitting against the window.
And another thump. He looked outside
but couldn't see, so he ventured
outside to see. In the field near his house
he saw, of all the strangest things,
a flock of geese!
They were apparently flying to look for a
warmer area down south,
but got caught in the snowstorm.
The snow had become too blinding
and violent for the geese to fly
or see their way. They were lost and
stranded on his farm, with no food or shelter.
They just fluttered their wings and flew
around in circles
around the field blindly and aimlessly.
He had compassion for them and wanted
to help them. He thought to himself,
"The barn would be a great place for them
to stay! It's warm and safe; surely they
could spend the night and wait out the storm."
So he walked over to the barn and opened the
barn doors for them. He waited, watching them,
hoping they would notice the open barn and go inside.
But they just fluttered around aimlessly and didn't
notice the barn or realize what it could mean for them.
So he started whistling and calling to them. Nothing.
He shouted, jumped up and down, waved his arms.
They didn't pay attention. He moved closer toward
them to get their attention, but they just moved away
from him out of fear.
He went into the house and came back out
with some bread, broke it up, and made a bread
trail leading to the barn. They still didn't catch on.
Starting to get frustrated, he went over and tried
to shoo them, run after them, and chase them toward
the barn. They only got scared and scattered into every
direction except toward the barn.
None of his attempts to get them into the barn succeeded.
Nothing he did could get them to go into the barn where
there was warmth, safety, and shelter; nothing he did
could make them enter the one place where they could survive.
Feeling totally frustrated, he exclaimed, "Why don't they
listen to me! Why don't they follow me! What's wrong with
them! Can't they see this is the only place where they
can survive the storm! How can I possibly get them into
the one place to save them!" He thought for a moment and
realized that they just won't follow a human.
He said to himself, "How can I possibly save them?
The only way would be for me to become like those geese.
If only I could become like one of them! Then I could
show them the way! Then I could save them!
They would follow me, not fear me. They would trust me,
and I would lead them to safety."
He stood silently for a moment as the words
that he just said reverberated back to himself
in his mind: "If only I could become like one of them
- then I could show them the way - then I could save them."
He thought about his words, and remembered what he
said to his wife: "Why would God want to be like us?
That's so ridiculous!" Something clicked in his mind
as he put these two together. It was like a revelation,
and he began to understand the incarnation.
We were like the geese - blind, gone astray,
perishing. God became like us so He could show us
the way and make a way available to save us. That is
the meaning of Christmas, he realized in his heart.
As the winds and blinding snow abated,
his heart became quiet and pondered this
epiphany. He understood what Christmas was all
about. He knew why Christ had come. Suddenly years
of doubt and disbelief were shattered, as he humbly
and tearfully bowed down in the snow, and
embraced the true meaning of Christmas.
John 1:1 In
the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God.
(kjv)
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, And dwelt
among us, ( and we beheld His glory, the glory
as of the only begotten of the Father,) full
of grace and truth. (kjv)
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