COMMENTARY: Christmas, a Time to Put Down Our Opinions to Sing and Listen

c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) It was a day before Christmas. Our men’s ensemble rehearsed Franz Biebl’s ethereal “Ave Maria,” beloved anthem of Roman Catholicism. For a moment, we reached across the Protestant Reformation to embrace our shared origins in a girl who said yes to God. I sat in a coffee shop. A […]

c. 2005 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) It was a day before Christmas.

Our men’s ensemble rehearsed Franz Biebl’s ethereal “Ave Maria,” beloved anthem of Roman Catholicism. For a moment, we reached across the Protestant Reformation to embrace our shared origins in a girl who said yes to God.


I sat in a coffee shop. A woman asked a child if she had a list for Santa. The girl nodded excitedly and beamed at the attention. For a moment, all who sat nearby reached beyond adulthood to that magical time when everything seemed possible, even a large elf bringing gifts.

After the sermon, two dozen men stood up to sing, not in sections, but mixed, allowing us to blend our voices by listening to one another. For a moment, we looked beyond Christianity’s terrible tendency toward division _ men vs. women, Jewish-Christian vs. Greek-Christian, East vs. West, Roman vs. Protestant, fundamentalist vs. progressive, lay vs. clergy, anti-gay vs. gay-affirming, and on to the finest degree of righteousness. For a moment, we just sang.

Midafternoon, at a retirement center, violin students gave a recital for residents. My son and a girl named Alexandra performed a duet of “Adeste Fideles,” then bowed shyly as seniors applauded. Young gave to old the incomparable gift of music, and old gave to young the life-transforming gift of appreciation. Like Mary and Joseph, before they became larger-than-life heroes of the church, people gave what they had.

At home, my wife and I sat near a fireplace covered with handmade stockings hanging ready for Christmas Eve. Each has a story, an act of kindness by someone in our past. Relationships might end, but having been loved lasts forever.

Christians in America spent 2005 fighting each other over issues large and small, from gay rights to courthouse decor to Christmas greetings. Some accrued power from the political benefits of religious warfare. Some enjoyed its financial benefits. Many felt the tingle of righteousness. No doubt, as an election year dawns, the Supreme Court resumes and another round of church conventions begins, we will do the same in 2006.

Were we casting a Christmas pageant, I doubt that any of the choice roles would go to us who labor in the vineyard of right opinion and culture war. We might be slotted for Caesar, who thought himself divine and worthy of absolute power. Or Caesar’s legions, who wielded earthly power with a heavy hand. Or the travelers who got to the inn first and were enjoying the good life.

Not Mary, however, the frightened “handmaiden of the Lord” who submitted to God in order to serve God, who later became a sturdy disciple and leader, who alone had the courage to watch her son die, and who always remembered it was about him, not her.

Not Joseph, the little-known father who ignored the rules and remained faithful to God and to his partner.


Not the shepherds, who put aside their tasks and went to Bethlehem to see something new. Not the magi, who put aside their wisdom and followed a star of God’s leading. Not the angels, who heralded a day of God’s favor, a day of peace.

Those roles would go to humbler sorts. For now, perhaps we can listen to our own gospel, to the story of how Jesus came to a world not unlike ours. Moved by that story, perhaps we can lay down the burden of our right opinions, if only for a night, and hear in the silent night the voice that shepherds heard, heralding God’s new day.

Maybe then we can stand, mix our voices, and sing together, “O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!”

MO/PH END RNS

(Tom Ehrich is a writer, consultant and leader of workshops. His book, “Just Wondering, Jesus: 100 Questions People Want to Ask,” was published by Morehouse Publishing. An Episcopal priest, he lives in Durham, N.C. His Web site is http://www.onajourney.org.)

Editors: To obtain a photo of Tom Ehrich, go to the RNS Web site at https://religionnews.com. On the lower right, click on “photos,” then search by subject or slug.

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