My favorite Christmas story is one about a school pageant. One of the students was a little slow, so they gave him the part of the innkeeper. All he had to say was \u201cThere\u2019s no room in the inn,\u201d and \u201cNo.\u201d He did just fine in rehearsals. Came the night and Mary and Joseph approached the inn. \u201cCan we stay here?\u201d asked Joseph. \u201cThere\u2019s no room in the inn,\u201d said Bruce, looking troubled. \u201cPlease,\u201d said Joseph, \u201cmy wife is pregnant.\u201d Bruce had been looking more and more uncomfortable. After a short silence he threw the door open and said \u201cCome on in!\u201d Some of the audience thought the pageant had been ruined, but the rest thought it the best one they\u2019d ever seen.
\nI\u2019ve never connected this story with an experience of my own, but the door flung open and the huge welcome provided a template for me. I was in one of my periodic bad times, feeling like I hadn\u2019t accomplished much that was worthwhile in my life. I thought \u201cWhat will god think of this meager harvest?\u201d and I saw myself climbing up the clouds toward a pearly gate carrying a couple of stalks of wheat. Suddenly the gate flew open, and this enormous being (looking more like Caspar the ghost than anything) with a huge smile, opened his\/her\/its\/their arms wide and enfolded me saying \u201cWELCOME! Whatever you have done or not done, welcome.\u201d Remembering this can still warm my heart.
\nAlso at this time I think about the homeless, not just the real ones in our cities and towns, but the parts of me that I have disowned, the depressed and discouraged and helpless ones, and I fling open the door to my heart and say \u201cWelcome! Whatever you have done or not done, welcome!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My favorite Christmas story is one about a school pageant. One of the students was a little slow, so they gave him the part of the innkeeper. All he had to say was \u201cThere\u2019s no room in the inn,\u201d and … Continue reading