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“You know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sake he became poor although he was rich, so that by his poverty you might become rich.” (2 Cor 8: 9)

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The disruption of the original order in the world, that natu­ral dependence of creature on the Creator upset by sin, requires that a new mindset be practiced and learned .. It is not intuitive to fallen nature to exchange our self-security for full­ness in God. All our lives we have been urged to be cautious and hard-working to secure a footing in an uncertain world. This leaves us ever troubled as we try to volley the circumstances thrown to us to our personal advantage and build bulwarks of resources to pro­tect ourselves and our families against want and misfortune.

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Christ came into the world as a naked baby to a poor couple who were defenseless in front of the vagaries and violence of their times. Forced to migrate for the census at the time of imminent birth, turned away from decent shelter, hunted by Herod, they were as vulnerable as the least ones on the earth. Still nothing happened to the Holy Family that wasn’t guided by the Father’s will. They did not rely on their power or worldly leverage even to protect the divine child. Help was given them in messages of warning and direc­tion. A stable was provided for the child’s birth, and the kings and shepherds were invited to come and adore him in a field beneath the.heavens.

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We learn that the things and happenings of the world have a larger purpose, and we need not control or put these in oppo­sition to their Provider and the others given to us. Our peaceful entrusting of all to God, as Christ gave his life into the hands of his Father, allows us to inherit all that has been promised, the riches of life as God’s true children. We see that the materials of living, precious as they are for their purposes, are subject to the Father’s sufficient provision for his children.

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