There is nothing like the birth of a baby to reorganize a couple's life. The center of the universe changes--things revolve around the baby. It is just like Galileo's discovery that earth is not the center but rotates around the sun.
Then I thought of the discovery of the Magi of the Christ Child. On that day, the center of the universe changed for them. TS Eliot, in the Journey of the Magi, describes the Wisemen at the manger and discovering the real implications of taking Jesus into their lives--"Ishould be glad of another death." In other words, physical death is nothing compared to the death of the ego which gives birth to the Christ Child. The question is this: are we prepared to bring this Child into our lives when we consider the change in our lives? Or, are we willing to change ourselves for the Christ Child in the same dramatic way as we did for one of our babies?
The Journey of the Magi
TS Eliot
stanza 3
Were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.
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