At the heart of the meaning of Christmas is Incarnation:
“The Word became flesh and lived among us.” John 1:14
The Word became flesh. God is revealed in the flesh. The implication is that God is expressed in our humanity. While that is true, we, who are human, are not all there is to flesh. We have many animal kin who are flesh. I feel like God is revealed in my dog, and the squirrels, rabbits and birds outside my window, and the deer and coyote that I encounter in the woods, and in the trees and flowers. God is present in all of creation.
Certainly, what we celebrate at Christmas is the union of God and humanity—the Word or Expression of God joined to our humanity as we exist in the flesh. And yet, we are not separate from the rest of creation. As the theologian, Karl Rahner, puts it, “Our bodies do not end with our skin.” The reality of our fleshly existence and its survival is part of a whole, the flesh and matter of the cosmos.
Our evolution from a speck of life makes us part of a tree of life. We are life that has become conscious of itself and reflective. In their book, Journey of the Universe, Brian Thomas Swimme and Mary Evelyn Tucker, write that “every time we are drawn to look up into the night sky and reflect on the awesome beauty of the universe, we are actually the universe reflecting on itself.”
Even more so, we are the coming-to-be of the universe in its reflection of its Creator. And, in our infinite openness, we are the universe reaching out to its Creator. All of creation shares in our reaching out and glorifying God our Maker.
So, Jesus tells us to consider the lilies of the field and the birds of the air and how God cares for them. We share in the same care of the Creator. And all of creation joins us in glorifying God for God’s creation and care.
Francis of Assisi, in his Canticle of Creation, sings of God’s praise through all of creation, through Brother Sun, Sister Moon and Stars, Brothers Wind and Air, Sister Water, Brother Fire, Sister Earth, our Mother.
“Praise be yours, our Lord, through all that you have made.”
The Word became flesh and dwells among us. God is present in and through our humanity and through all of creation. Thanks be to God.