My dad still comes with me to doctor’s appointments. Not to every appointment; not if I have a cold or need more allergy medicine- but for the big ones, he drives all the way down to Pittsburgh to accompany his 26 year old daughter. It isn’t that he doesn’t think I can handle it myself, that I’m not yet intelligent enough to make my own health decisions or to ask necessary questions or discuss the full range of options: he just likes to be there for me. It’s one thing to know that there are people who love you and are in your corner, but it’s a different feeling when they are literally in your corner, messing around with a model of the spine waiting for the doctor with you. Saying “I’m with you in spirit!” is wonderful; actually being there is better.

“For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.” (Colossians 2:9-10) This is the miracle of Christmas that God Himself, the highest entity in all of history, takes on the weakness and frailty of flesh so that not only could He experience all of the temptation and pain that accompanies humanity, but could take on all the sins of mankind, burying them with Himself in the grave before rising triumphantly over death. (Sorry for the spoiler. I don’t really know how to talk about Christmas without mentioning Easter.)

My favorite Christmas hymn is Hark the Herald Angels Sing because it harps (ba-dum-tsh) on this point quite well. “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail the incarnate Deity! Pleased as man, with man to dwell: Jesus our Immanuel!” Christmas is about God coming to be with us in the realest way possible. Immanuel means “God with us”- standing in the corner tinkering with tongue depressors, or hanging out in your office while you’re stressed with work, or sitting on your kitchen counter drinking coffee. He is with us. He is in our corner. He experienced the full range of human experience so He not only “gets” what you’re going through, but can actually help and offer real peace, comfort, and wisdom. Christmas is about God sending His Son to be with us- actively, actually, and always.