Christians believe that the Creator of all life, the source of compassion and goodness, the standard through whom we discern justice, the power that gives courage for heroic adventure, that this Creator when dressed in the clothes of human flesh looks like Mary's child, Jesus. Mary herself was a bit of a firebrand calling for the mighty to be tossed off their thrones, and challenging God to do justice and reverse the economy so that the poor might thrive, and the wealthy might learn humility. This holy twosome, the woman whom God loved, and the child that resulted from their union, is what is celebrated throughout the Christmas season.
When this child grew up he took on the identical titles Roman citizens used for Caesar. Like Caesar, the child was called by his followers "God," "Son of God," "Redeemer," "Liberator" and "Savior of the World." But Mary's child would practice his "divinity" a bit differently. Mary's child would practice the art and craft of nonviolence as his strategy to win the peace.
Jesus learned it from the Jewish midwives who undermined Pharaoh; Gandhi practiced it in India; King in the south; Tutu in South Africa; Dorothy Day through the Catholic worker; Francis and Clare in Italy; Mother Teresa and Oscar Romero on the edges of empire. Nonviolence brought down dictatorships in the Philippines, Chile, and Serbia; it led the Velvet revolutions throughout Eastern Europe; it shattered the Soviet Union; and is the driving pulse behind the reform that will one day lift the Israeli boot off the Palestinian throat.
The way of Jesus is the way of mustard seeds, like soup kitchens, shelters and free healthcare clinics. It brings together rich and poor, liberal and conservative, religious and secular, Christian and all faith traditions. It unites around a vision of compassion that cares for the earth, and affirms the divinity of all.
In contrast, the Nobel peace of Obama will increase destruction, displacement, hunger, terror, torture, repression and the anguish of collateral damage in the midst of the lawlessness of permanent war. It will leave our nation bankrupt without resources or a moral foundation capable of renewal. But the way of Mary's child offers a new orientation: If your enemy is hungry, feed her; if she is naked, clothe her; if he is homeless, house him; if he is wounded, bandage him. Do to everyone else what you would want done to yourself. Care for the earth as the sacred lifeline that it is. Be willing to live a heroic life, unafraid of those pretenders who assume they are kings.
Christmas reminds us that the thrones of the mighty are rotting from within. Some day soon a new world order will arise. Mary's son and all his friends will be dancing and happiness will spread throughout the land.
Mary will be so proud. No wonder God loved her.