A World Without

Imagine, if you can, a world without church bells. No quiet evening strolls interrupted by the toll of the time. No deceased loved ones sent out of this earth with musical accompaniment. No noon song that draws out a hum as you go about your business.

Imagine a world without churches. No steeples dotting the mountainside, rising up out of the hills. No stained glass windows or mosaic archways or painted frescos. No grand feats of masonry and carpentry. No structure that brings our eyes and minds higher than our own achievements.

Imagine a world without gospel music. That would mean no soul, no blues, no country, no rock-n-roll, no R&B, no jazz. No Elvis Presley or Dolly Parton. No Otis Redding or Luke Bryan. No Beyonce.

Imagine a world without much of literature. No Tolkien or C. S. Lewis. No Dante or Dostoevsky. No Bronte or Wilde. No Emerson or Emily Dickinson. No Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Imagine a world without rosaries on rearview mirrors; without wooden crosses on the highway; without bedazzled Our Lady of Guadalupe statues in Mexican restaurants.

Imagine a world devoid of Christ. From the grand to the obsolete, from the triumphs to the tragedies, consider what the world would lose, and what, if anything, it would gain.

What about the Crusades, or the sex abuse scandals, or the expulsion of Jewish people throughout Europe, or the colonization and erasure of cultures across the world in the name of Mission? Worthy questions. Tragedies, indeed. But would man have found a way to bring such harm without the excuse or cloak of religion? I think so. Holocausts and mass shootings and enslavement and a thousand other travesties utter time and time again that human beings have a great capacity for evil. Yet the Incarnation – the coming of God as man to dwell among us – tells us that more importantly, human beings have a great capacity for good, and that is worth living and dying for.

In these last few days of Advent, the darkest days of our year, I encourage you to find one thing in your daily, monthly, or yearly life that bears the mark of the mystery of the Incarnation. Something you would miss, that you could not do without. Let that one thing guide your Christmas celebration. His presence is everywhere, and whether or not one believes, is it not impressive to simply consider the long-reaching influence and tides of change brought about by one simple carpenter? While the mystery of the Incarnation started most humbly – a baby in a manger –, its fanfare continues in the everyday lives of Christians everywhere. Let us celebrate that simplicity, so that in everything we do, we can join with the angels, singing, “Glory to God in the Highest.” If we live the mystery truly, maybe we will finally see peace on earth and goodwill to men.