Reflection Paper

705 Words2 Pages

The first idea I had for my sermon was from Luke 2:1-7 “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for …show more content…

My mind was a blank. I prayed and prayed looking for some kind of inspiration. Every day I prayed and asked God to give me a message with no avail. I needed a break and went and did some shopping. As I entered the store, I heard a song playing in the background that I had not heard for many years. As I listened to the song something very unexpected happened, I began to weep. For me that was very unusual since I am not a crier. The song was Christmas in Your Eyes” by Gloria Esteban. I read about her life as a child. She grew up in Havana Cuba during the time when Fidel Castro was in power. Her family lived in fear of the unknown and she was never able to experience the typical childish joys of Christmas morning. When her son was born everything changed. He laughed at the Christmas lights, stared at the Christmas tree, clapped when the Christmas songs played. She realized how much she missed as a child. She wanted another chance to feel and dream like a child again. This song brought the message of becoming a child home to me. I realized that Christmas to me was nothing more than another day. More often than not, I wanted to avoid the fact that I had no time, no money and poor family relationships. This song became an open door for me to investigate why becoming a child was so important in my Christian

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Reflection Paper

Growing Up On The South Side Of Chicago