He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. -
John 1:11
On Christmas Eve 1932, Robert McGimsey attended a midnight church service in New York City
and then headed back to his one-room apartment. As he walked the final blocks, he passed
the open doors of private clubs where people were shouting and swearing and singing.
Others were so drunk they had passed out on the sidewalk.
What a strange way to celebrate the birth of the most perfect Person who ever lived on
this earth, McGimsey thought. We seem to have missed the whole significance of His
life.
That night McGimsey wrote his thoughts on the back of an envelope. These words, which were
written like the spirituals he had loved growing up in the southern United States, flowed
out of his heart:
Sweet little Jesus Boy,
They made You be born in a manger.
Sweet little Holy Child, didn't know who You was.
Didn't know You'd come to save us, Lord,
To take our sins away.
Our eyes was blind, we couldn't see,
We didn't know who You was.
The song offers an apology to the Christ-child for not
recognizing Him when He came to this earth. But every year gives us an opportunity to look
again at Jesus' birth with new eyes of understanding and acceptance.
Will we recognize and honor Him as our Lord and King this Christmas?
-DCM
The hinge of history is found on the door of a Bethlehem stable.