I begin with an old and well-known Chinese fable: There was an old man who had a farm; he was up in years and depended on his son to help him and they lived very modestly. One day the only horse that they had escaped the barn and ran off. All the neighbors came around and said to the old man: "Oh what bad luck!" The old man said, "We'll see."
The next day the horse returned bringing with it a herd of horses. All the neighbors came around and said to the old man: "Oh what good luck!" The old man said, "We'll see."
Soon after the son was breaking in one of the horses and was thrown and broke his leg very badly, leaving him with a permanent limp. All the neighbors came around and said to the old man: "Oh what bad luck!" The old man said, "We'll see."
A month later war broke out and the army came to take all the young men to fight. If the young man left the farm the old man would have no one to help him and he would lose the farm. But the army passed over the son because of his limp. All the neighbors came around and said to the old man: "Oh what good luck!" And all the old man said, was, "We'll see."
Whenever I hear this story I want to ask, and then what happened? What was the next bad luck event that turned to good fortune?
This story has also framed my hearing of the Lord's birth, life, death, and resurrection. Let's play with it a bit:
Mary, engaged to be married to Joseph, though a virgin, was with child. And the neighbors all gathered around and said, "Oh what bad luck!" And Joseph said, "We'll see."
They were traveling when the baby came and there was no room in any house for them so they went to a barn where the animals were gathered, and there, in a barn, Mary gave birth to her son. And the people gathered around and said, "Oh what bad luck!" And the shepherds who had followed the star said, "We'll see."
Herod heard of Jesus's birth and set out to use the Wise Men from the East to trap the young family. And the people who heard of this said, "Oh what bad luck!" But the wise men said, "We'll see."
And Jesus grew and became a wise teacher and prophet, and was revered and loved by the people in the Galilean countryside who were faithful to God and obeyed what Jesus required of them. The people proclaimed him the messiah and said to themselves, "Oh what good luck!" And the Pharisees said, "We'll see."
And it came to pass that one of the disciples betrayed Jesus into the hands of the Pharisees and he was crucified and died. The people cried out, "Oh what bad luck!" And no one said, "We'll see."
On the third day the women came to the tomb and found the stone rolled away and the body of Jesus gone. And the women exclaimed, "Oh what bad luck!" And the angel said, "We'll see."
The disciples went home after Jesus had died and they were very sad and very afraid. And they cried out, "Oh what bad luck!" And Jesus, suddenly standing there with them, said, "We'll see."
Framing the stories of our faith this way, beginning first with the birth of Jesus,
Emmanuel,
God-with-us,
invites us to re-frame the stories of our lives as well. We frame our stories not in terms of Good Luck or Bad Luck, but rather as events that have meaning and purpose in the larger scheme of things. Some people, for instance, are born into conditions far worse than a stable, robbed of childhood and innocence, and yet grow up and grow beyond their circumstances. Many grow beyond self-pity and self-identity as victim, to become spiritually mature and highly influential writers and teachers, poets, prophets, artists, social activists, community advocates, healers, pastors. And when the winds of misfortune swirl around them and the crowd says, "Oh what bad luck!" they can proclaim with confidence, "We'll see." They know the sure and steady flow of Love that runs throughout good times and bad and God's abiding presence through it all. They know that there is really no luck at all; there are just the ebbs and tides of life and its cycle and the divine incarnate is in it all.
The story of the birth of Christ invites us into patience and forbearance, far beyond the good luck, bad luck paradigm. And in those moments, when we can shrug and say with a knowing sparkle in our eye, "We'll see," then we are very close to the Kingdom indeed.
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