Whether we admit it or not, humans are, by nature communal. We need others to flourish. We depend on relationships for our health, physical and emotional. By showing up as a baby, God is affirming our interdependence. Jesus as God needed others to survive. And he humbled himself to allow this vulnerability to take place. For needs to be met. For love to be embodied in the form of diapers and blankets and swaddling clothes.
Those beloved by God in scripture seldom live a life according to the script. They are sent into exile. They are thrust into the center of attention. They are asked to run around naked in the town square or lay down on their side for over a year while eating food cooked over dung. People chosen and favored by God face unimaginable loss, hardship, and discomfort.
Control itself is an illusion. We live in a world that is not determined by our sensibilities. Throughout the course of our life, the only predictable element is the capriciousness of life. We will lose people we love. Plans will not come to form in the ways we imagined. We will have exuberant, overwhelming surprises of joy, and other times of unimaginable loss.
JoyPlusGrace 