EMU President's Christmas Meditation

This Christmas season, I am reminded of why Jesus came on Earth. The whole story of the Christian Bible is God reaching out to humans in reconciling love. God desires to bridge the chasm created by human sin and to restore the God-human relationship. Jesus represents God’s ultimate effort to bring about this reconciliation.

Past U.S. President Jimmy Carter, in a speech to the biannual Mennonite Assembly in Atlanta this past summer, suggested that Christians are to be little Christs. He called on us to be the hands and feet to do God’s work in the world.

In times like these, our world needs us to be, like Jesus, reconcilers. No matter where our political loyalties may lie, whether we oppose or support the recent wars in the Middle East, I think we would all agree that these wars are undesirable. All of us, I believe, yearn for a world that sees no cause for war. Such a world would be possible if every human determined to be a reconciler.

The dictionary defines reconciliation in terms of people no longer opposing each other or creating harmonious relationships. I suggest that human beings will always find themselves in disagreement with each other. In fact, some disagreement is healthy, as it moves us closer to the truth if we have open minds. But can we not live in harmony, remain in relationship, even as we disagree?

This Christmas season, I call on every Christian to resolve to be a reconciler. At the least, this means that we will make every attempt to engage in respectful conversation with those with whom we disagree.

Deborah Tannen in her book "The Argument Culture: Stopping America’s War of Words," decries our automatic tendency to attack and demean each other. Strong words may be needed at times to make a point but never should we belittle others or twist their words to make our own argument. We see issues as two-sided when more often there are many sides. We may be more interested in making our own point than in listening. Perhaps the issue would look more complicated if we were to really listen.

Amidst the tinsel and colored lights, the feasts and Christmas songs, let us take to heart a deeper message this Christmas: Jesus came to earth to be a reconciler. Can we do any less?
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Beryl H. Brubaker is interim president of Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Va.