The new year is but the continuation of our searchings and our journey.
It also evokes questions on where we are going,
how we will get there,
why do we even want to go.
We yearn for certainty and answers to our many questions in our searchings.
And the obvious answer is usually the wrong answer.
Can a helpless baby born in simple circumstances be indeed the long awaited Messiah? Obvious answer: No, because the Messiah was supposed to come in glory.
Real answer: Yes, the shepherds (insignificant people) and the Magi (foreigners, outcasts) came offering him gifts.
Can anything good come out of Nazareth?
Obvious answer: No; it is a hick town in the backwater parts of the country.
Real answer: Yes, it was where Christ grew up in age, wisdom and grace before God and men.
Can there be anything but a bitter ending in Calvary?
Obvious answer: No, this was the end, a shameful ending to a quixotic adventure.
Real answer: Yes, this is the prelude to the greatest event of all, the Resurrection.
Can I amount to anything at all?
Obvious answer: Come on you are but one in billions.
What makes you think you are special?
Real answer: I am a child of the Universe no less than than the trees and the stars . . . .
That Baby in the Manger?
He came just for me.