Just across from the huge DUCK DYNASTY display in my local Wal Mart here in Lexington, Virginia this Christmas season is this T-shirt. Which, of course, I had to share with y'all.

You maybe can't see it, but the small yellow writing just underneath the exclamation mark is: "John 15:13," as in John, in the New Testament of the Bible, Chapter 15, Verse 13. Loosely and modernly translated, that reads: Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.  

Which is, when you think about it and if you're any kind of Christian or even if you're not, the whole point of Christmas. According to the Bible, Jesus was born on Christmas Day and laid down his life about 33 years later to save, in his opinion, the souls of everybody, all of whom he considered his new best friends forever. Really forever. For eternity.


I'm not sure I totally believe the narrative, but I've always been struck, hard, by the fact that those early Christians in the desert wanted to believe it. Even if it's not true, was never true, it pulls at the heart and soul to think that human beings could make up such a powerful story.

There's more, of course. The set-up, the prequel: John 3:16 says, "God [the father] so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son [Jesus]." It's beyond primal.

When I became a parent myself, that part of the Christmas story assumed a whole new layer of meaning. Again, whether it's true or not is secondary, at least to me. For 2000+ years so many mortal creatures have wanted, needed, to believe in that dual sacrifice. First by a parent, of his son. And then by the son. For love of the world.

At its best, before organized religion complicated its purity, this origin story was all about love, mind-blowing, selfless love.

So, Merry Christmas, New Best Friends Forever. Believer or not, get out there and spread the holiday cheer - and the love.


Instant Gratification: "Light in the Dark"



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