On Christmas morning, I went to mass (Catholic) with my parents, my aunt (who is a nun), my cousin, and my sister, at my parents' parish in North San Diego County, CA. Theirs a new parish community served by two priests – a late-40s arch-conservative who is so old-school that he inserts Latin back into the liturgy wherever he can; and a retired priest who seems very sweet but seldom has anything to say from the pulpit.

On Christmas we had the good fortune to have the old guy without much to say. And I mean it was good fortune, as the younger priest, who runs the joint, causes me to grieve.

As I heard the pointless sermon, I looked around the room and saw lots of people who were there for some spiritual food, but were being fed the equivalent of Kraft macaroni and cheese. I thought to myself, I could go up to that pulpit myself and deliver a sermon that actually had food for thought and might alter someone's context for living (or might not). So rather than brag about it in my head, I offer this Christmas reflection for your perusal. Let me know what you think:

A few days before Christmas, my friend Doug and I visited the Getty Museum in Los Angeles to take in a beautiful sunny SoCal day and see some art. We made our way an exhibit called "Medieval Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art." The Baby Jesus and his mother Mary were portrayed in many of the art works, as the Nativity of Our Lord has always been a popular theme in Catholic religious art.

Doug and I found ourselves joking at the way Jesus was portrayed in many of these works. By modern standards, it would appear that the artists had never seen an actual baby human before. Little Baby Jesus was larger than a baby – more toddler sized – with at least a four-pack of abdominal muscles and a full head of thick hair, or often fully clothed with a dour or sour look upon his face. Sometimes he held objects suggesting his divine authority. The Christ Child was portrayed as a sullen warrior-king – just the kind of leader the Crusaders would have gone to battle for.

Unfortunately the Christ Child has not fared much better in recent years. Gone is the warrior king – but gone also is the baby. If the bath water was thrown out, we know where the Baby Jesus ended up!

So let's pull Baby Jesus from the figurative sewer he ended up in, and look at whats really there.

Sending the Savior of the World to earth and announcing his arrival as a baby was about the most subversive, tricky thing God could have done if he wanted to send an avatar into the world to teach us about love.

Babies are enlightened beings, insofar as their young minds know no guile, and they communicate their needs freely, and bring out the best in us. They allow and inspire our attention, service, and loving care. Babies turn a gruff man into a jibberish-spouting fool; babies remind us about what’s important in life; babies are the embodiment of innocence. As a baby is dependent on its mother, so are we dependent on the Earth, our Mother.

Babies do not judge. They are quick to laugh, giggle and smile. Sure, they cry, poop and pee and laugh at us while they're doing it, but in doing these things they show their need for us and inspire our service. What greater teacher is there than a baby? They even look like the Buddha.

Herod knew that a Baby King would represented a threat to his power structure, so he sent death squads to exterminate all male children under two years of age. And so today, our innocent children, rather than having their rightful roles as our instructors of innocence, wonder, presence and service, are beset by the Herods of the world, who can't murder them but can rob them of their innocence by turning them into consumers, commodifying them, instilling them with envy and the vague sense that they're not good enough unless they purchase the latest model of basketball shoe.

And as commodified consumers, as marketing targets, the eternal child within each of us is estranged, as "the system" and all its myriad institutions divorce us from the simple, innocent enjoyment of life that is the way of the baby.

Indeed, Christ later taught us that unless we become like little children, we shall not enter the Kingdom of God. I ask you: How like a little child are you? Do you abide in the wonder of life? Do you see possibility everywhere? Do you dream? Or are you cynical? Can someone make you laugh by making a silly face at you? Or have "they" got you thinking that looking good at any cost is the way to get by in life? Worse, do you find yourself scolding or quieting the childlike impulses of others? Have you bought into the system yourself?

Innocence is often a misused word. We pair it against guilt, or use it to describe a state of mind we all had before we discovered sexuality. But I challenge myself, and I challenge you, to embody the innocence of a child. Assume that no one is your enemy, allow other people to serve you and make you laugh, grab people’s fingers, smile when you’re happy, and cry when you’re sad.

Copyright 2007 Al Polito. Call Al at (503) 708-9394 or send an email to al@lifeluster.com.