When people are truly following Jesus, they enjoy a great freedom from themselves—they can laugh at themselves, and let others do the same. They can accept humiliations and not being first or best—because their own reputation is not at stake. They know it is all about the One Eternal Christ Mystery and not about them.
The mature follower of Jesus will probably look more like a holy fool than a pious churchgoer, an uptight schoolmarm, or a too-obvious “saint.” At Jesus' very birth he is fully identified with poverty, homelessness, immigrants, shepherds who were unclean by Temple criteria, and pagan astrologers from some offbeat Oriental religion! This Cosmic Christ did not come to create or maintain any in-groups or superiority systems, but to live and offer to the world a universal truth. Such a Christmas is indeed worthy of being the central holiday and holy day of the entire year.
~ Richard Rohr, Christmas 2011
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