Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head.
The stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay,
The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes,
But little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes.
I love thee, Lord Jesus! look down from the sky,
And stay by my cradle till morning is nigh.

Be near me, Lord Jesus; I ask thee to stay
Close by me forever, and love me I pray.
Bless all the dear children in thy tender care,
And take us to heaven to live with thee there.

This old Anglo-American carol is also a kind of traditional prayer in the English-speaking world. As American converts to Orthodoxy, we may hear its familiar verse while looking more deeply at the Orthodox icon of Christmas before us. Our Nativity icon in the center of our Church today is a holy image that is also a kind of family picture for us on this very family holiday of Christmas. In it we can find the head of our family Jesus Christ as a baby, our Mother in the Church the Most Holy Virgin Mary, our animal friends, even the temptation by the devil of the Righteous Joseph, and the angels speaking to the shepherds, the everyday people with whom we can identify. It is at night, our God is hidden in a cave, in a harsh world where the villain Herod hunts for him, a star shines down.

We can imagine the ox lowing and the ass braying, and both helping to keep the baby warm Who is also the hidden God in the cave, sheltered from both the harsh rocks of the world and the vicious attacks of Herod and the Devil, both hunting for Him as He fulfills prophecy. In the icon, the ox and the ass also are symbolic representations of two peoples: the ox symbolizes the Jews, a “clean” animal under Mosaic Law, and a people guided by the Law of Moses to remain faithful and obedient to God. The ass an “unclean” animal according to dietary laws, represents the Gentiles who did not have the Law of Moses directing them. This pairing reflects the unity between Jews and Gentiles in Christ. The presence of both clean and unclean animals in the icon symbolizes the unity wrought by Christmas, typing the birth of Jesus Christ as fully God and fully man, two natures in one person, unconfused and undivided, as understood in Orthodox Christianity.

Other animals present in the icon represent the redemption of the fallen Creation as a whole. The tree often in the Nativity icons represents the Tree of Jesse, the genealogy of Christ’s human nature back to Creation. The harsh rocks symbolize a harsh world subject to the newborn King. The angels with the shepherds sing “glory to God in the highest” and the star that led the three pagan wise men who later became Orthodox Saints is understood by the Church Fathers as an angelic being lighting humanity’s darkness.

Mysterious dimensions of life about which we are often clueless come together on earth at Christmas, a bending of space and time in this humble and stark setting of the cave. “The light shineth in the darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not,” as Scripture tells us of Christ.  Christ said I am the light of the world, and he gave us as the greatest Christmas gift the uncreated light of God in our hearts, so that we can let our light shine.

The Orthodox Church highlights the full spectrum of redemption refracted in Jesus’ life, from His birth at Bethlehem to the Crucifixion and Resurrection and Ascension, and even His sending down the Holy Spirit to His Church. Our Lord brought His human form to heaven, but the Church is also the continuing Body of Christ on earth. One special event also came in the Garden of Gethsemane, when the Gospels tell us he sweated as blood . His sorrow there was from compassion for us, from awareness of our sins and how He would die for them. He still gives His Body and Blood to each of us at every Eucharist.

Yet this, too, goes back to Bethlehem as shown in the Christmas icon in the center of Church today. The manger with the swaddling clothes prefigures the tomb with the graveclothes. Such joy with such prefiguring of sorrow, this is the model for the joyful sorrow of our faith. Even the three wise men bring gold, frankincense, and myrrh, the first two symbolizing the royalty and divinity of Jesus Christ, but also the myrrh indicating the sacrifice of His death to come.

This is all about the love of God for us, the helpless baby Who would come forth to change history at large and our own. But it comes with suffering, too. Hieromonk Seraphim Rose, spiritual son of our patron St. John, offered principles of Orthodox life that grow in us from the babe in the cave, that we may keep the spirit of Christmas each day throughout the year. According to his student Hieromonk Ambrose (Young), there are three principles of Orthodox living given by Father Seraphim, which combined can suggest to us the true Christmas spirit.

Three Principles of the Christmas Spirit in Orthodox Christianity

First, Hieromonk Seraphim noted, “We are pilgrims on this earth and there is nothing permanent for us here.” “We tend to treat it as though it’s permanent and awfully important in terms of careers and education and getting ahead and all those things. But all of that will die with us when the body dies; none of it will go with us into the next world.” The babe in the manger and His gift to us reminds us of this.

Second, he said, “our faith is not an academic ‘thing.‘” “Don’t let anyone ever take your books away from you. But don’t mistake the reading of books for the real thing, which is the living of Orthodoxy,” Father Seraphim said. “I found in Chinese philosophy the noblest view of man, until I encountered Orthodoxy and the Orthodox Lives of Saints. Then, shortly after I was received into the Orthodox Church, I met Archbishop [Saint] John, who was the noblest man I had ever met.” St. John personified the faith for Father Seraphim. Jesus Christ personified Truth for all of us. He was born here on earth for us. Because of Christmas, Truth is a Who and not a What.

Third: “If you do not find Christ in this life, you will not find Him in the next.”  Jesus Christ came to us on earth, and continues with us in His Church, to save us here and now, not in the next life. This is why our missionary work is so important for ourselves and others. Following the example of our Lord, we need to go forth from our cave. That’s why even in our little town of Winfield, in these country fields, we nonetheless are a mission by God’s grace.

Fr. Seraphim used to say to Hieromonk Ambrose, “if we dwell in love and God is love, then God is dwelling in us. And that is one of the ways by which we become closer and closer to Christ in this world.” And less fearful of the world. The fear of God (not of the world) is a love for God, because we appreciate how awesome He is, how loving, how humble yet mysterious, how infinitely powerful, how He cares for us in spite of our worst selves, as seen in the original Christmas.

Brothers and sisters let us start living loving and fearlessly in Christ this Christmas season, remembering the baby born in Bethlehem. Between Nativity today and Theophany in about two weeks, let us double down with prayer, with worship, digital detox, and seeking God’s peace in our hearts by His divine grace. In this way we remember and honor the child at Bethlehem. The cave that contained the whole world because it contained its Creator, the virgin birth, and all that is depicted in the icon before us–these are so wonderful yet so simple, that we should rest our hearts and memories in them today and every day. As Scrooge said finally when he had awakened and repented, let the spirit of Christmas be in our hearts every day throughout the year. For the love of our Lord for us offers the truest gift that keeps on giving, a gift we unwrap today here with our Church family in our hearts, whether we are new or old to Orthodoxy.

Christ is Born! Glorify Him! Merry Christmas!