Coming into the world as a baby wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t a downgrade in God’s power. It was a show of strength. Vulnerability requires courage. It requires honesty. To be vulnerable means being strong enough to show another person all the places where you’re weak and trusting them to support you anyway, to care for you when you can’t care for yourself. It’s an assumption of grace.
The truth is that I am fragile in the same way we all are. No amount of caring for others, of casting myself as a provider can make up for that. In a way, my most obvious display of weakness is my refusal to show vulnerability. My greatest show of cowardice is my refusal to appear weak.
At Christmas, we give thanks for the gift of God’s Son, of the promise of salvation that came with Jesus’ arrival on Earth. But this year, I’m especially grateful for the lesson in courage we get from this baby in a manger, the strength God displays in this willingness to be vulnerable, the courage it takes to rely on others.
This message is excerpted from “On fish and fragility” by Abby Accettura in the December 2019 Gather magazine. Today is Christmas Day.
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