http://frank.mtsu.edu/~cfrost/god/santini.htm
As we go through the season of anticipation leading up to the birth of Christ, we look with expectancy to the fulfillment of the Word in Genesis. More than that, the baby,Christ, changed the way we viewed ourselves and the World. How did His coming do that for us? As a writer, rather than as a cleric or a preacher, I like to refer to literature to illustrate any point I want to make. One of the truest and most concise manifestations of the idea of the Babe's birth came on page 203 of author Pat Conroy's book, "The Great Santini", played so splendidly in 1980 in the movie of the same name by Blythe Danner and Robert Duvall. Ben's mother writes him a letter on his birthday. Here's what she wrote:
"My dear son, my dear Ben, my dear friend who becomes a man today, I want to tell you something," the letter began. "You are my eldest child, the child I have known the longest, the child I have held the longest. I wanted to write you a letter about being a man and what it means to be a man in the fullest sense. I wanted to tell you that gentleness is the quality I have admired the most in men, but then I remembered how gentle you were. So I decided to write something else. I want you to always follow your noblest instincts. I want you to be a force for right and good. I want you to always defend the weak as I have taught you to do. I want you to always be brave and know that whatever you do or wherever you go, you walk with my blessings and my love. Keep your faith in God, your humility, and you sense of humor. Decide what you want from life then let nothing deter you from getting it. I have had many regrets in my life and many sadnesses but I will never regret the night you were born. I thought I knew about love and the boundaries of love until I raised you these past eighteen years. I knew nothing about love. That has been your gift to me. Happy Birthday, Mama" (p. 203).
In this one quote, we see the Mother's viewpoint in her wishes for her beloved son. And in the last few sentences, we see the impact of unreasonable, unconditional love on us. At Christmas, when we welcome the Baby Jesus into our hearts symbolically, once again, like on the first Christmas night His coming changed the hearts of all who witnessed his birth-from the lowliest shepherds who had no standing in society, to the Kings who came from 'yonder far', and who were so powerfully changed by His coming, that they disregarded the request of the other King, Herod, and with that act of love, saved Christ's life.
As Jesus is the Reason for the Season, we know that what he brings to us is love, pure love, which, when we receive it and give it out as a result, to both shepherd boys of today, and to the rich and powerful of the world, it changes everything in the World.
