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A wonder

Clarence Braun

I held him today. I hadn’t done so for at least a week. He had grown – less hair in some places, new hair in others, face fuller and body longer. What a wonder! What a beautiful child! Of course, I’m biased, for the child is our grandson – our first and only – and all I can do as I hold him is marvel.

Advent is the four Sundays before Christmas when Christians begin serious preparations for the coming of the Lord Christ. Yes, the preparations include forays into retail establishments, but the preparations are also quiet and inward as we try to get a handle on what it means when the Gospels tell us that the Son of God came into this world as a child. Came as a child – soft and adorable and smelling that sweet baby smell. Came as child – vulnerable, hungry, in need of comfort and touch, holding tightly to the hand of the birth parent. That’s what Advent tries to prepare us for: “The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us, and we have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

Yes, I held him today, and as I did so, he fell asleep in my arms. What a thrill! I cannot describe the full extent of that feeling, but it goes to the core of my being. If my grandson can do that for me, just think what the One born into our world can do for us! May this help us as we find ourselves “going to Bethlehem to see this thing” that God unwrapped then – and continues to unwrap in our restless and longing arms still!


Clarence Braun is pastor of First Baptist Church in Beamsville, Ont. This article was written in November 1999.

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Last modified December 6, 2000.

© 2000 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
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