On The Incarnation
As men we tend to be prone to the sin of pride. We value our strength, power, and influence, even in perfectly benign situations. It can be very easy to become self-reliant and that can make it hard to give over control of our lives to Christ, and to surrender to his will, even when we know it is best. As we celebrate the coming of Christ this Christmas, let us reflect on his humility and great love and pray that we too can become small for the sake of others. The excerpt below comes from St. Ephraim the Syrian’s 8th hymn on the Nativity of the Lord:
If she carried thee, Thy mighty look made her burden light; if she gave thee to eat, it was because thou wert hungry; if she gave thee to drink, because thou wert thirsty; willingly if she embraced thee, thou, the coal of mercies, didst keep her bosom safe.
A wonder is thy mother. The Lord entered her, and became a servant; the Word entered her, and became silent within her; thunder entered her, and His voice was still: the Shepherd of all entered her; He became a Lamb in her, and came forth bleating.
The belly of thy mother changed the order of things, o thou that orderest all! The rich went in, he came out poor: the High One went in, he came out lowly. Brightness went into her and clothed himself, and came forth a despised form.
The Mighty went in, and clad himself with fear from the belly. He that giveth food to all went in, and gat hunger. He that giveth all to drink went in, and gat thirst. Naked and bare came forth from her the Clother of all.